Mining for Love
by MissCHSparkles
Summary: When Elita finds herself trapped within Cybertron's abandoned mines, she is captured by the Decepticon leader's son Megatron. But as time passes, can something develop between them. Done as a request, suggestions welcome.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's note. A short story that was requested, I hope everyone enjoys._

_Sadly, I haven't been able to upload other stories as there's a problem with . I hope it's fixed soon, is anyone else having problems submitting new chapters?_

_Enjoy and please review._

Elita groaned heavily as she regained consciousness, her whole being ached terribly. Blinking her bright blue optics, they world appeared dark and fuzzy. She raised a hand and rubbed her optics, trying to clear her vision. The world came into slightly better focus but it was still pretty dark.

She realised that the fuzziness wasn't just because she'd just woken up, this whole place was very dusty and heavy particles hung in the air. She coughed, trying to clear her intakes of those particles that had settled there but didn't have much luck. She grimaced, she was obviously underground and she didn't like that.

She was no flyer but she did adore being out in the fresh, cold air of Cybertron. This place was too warm and dusty for her taste, not to mention it had a rather claustrophobic feel to it. She shivered, she didn't like this at all.

She didn't move from her spot though, instead she examined her prison. She was in a low tunnel which was littered with stones and glittering dirt. She realised with a jolt that she had fallen into one of the old abandoned Energon mines. Barely any were in use because of the War.

She sighed heavily, she'd been separated by her companions as they'd rushed across an empty plain when an Earthquake had struck. Since the fighting had begun, planetary tremors had become much more common. Some sad it was because Primus was trembling with anger and sadness at how his children were acting.

But this had been a rather severe one, the ground had bucked and cracks had appeared everywhere. They'd done the only thing they could, they'd run for it. Sadly, there were no flyers in their group so it was every bot for themselves.

But just as she was leaping over some fallen machinery, there had been another tremor and the ground she landed on collapsed beneath her. She'd screamed as the ground had swallowed her up, she'd plunged down and down before she lost consciousness. She had no idea what had happened to her friends, whether they too had fallen or if they'd been left behind on the surface.

She shifted slightly, wincing as she did so. Her body had taken a fearful beating on the journey down here. It seemed she had plunged down an old covered mine shaft but the earthquake had then closed it up. She could see no trace of the shaft she'd fallen through and the air down here was stale, there was no exit nearby.

She trembled for a moment but quickly squashed the rising panic within her. There was no point in panicking, especially as her salvation could only be a short distance away. For now, she was just going to take stock of her situation.

Thankfully, there was no internal damage to her systems, they were just a little stressed. And while he body was bashed and slightly dented in places, there were no serious injuries. She'd be stiff later but for now, she could move freely with only a little bit of discomfort.

She carefully got to her feet, looking around warily. She'd heard whispers of monsters that lived deep within the crust of Cybertron, terrifying ones that would rip you apart and drink your fuel. She shivered but at least she had at least two weapons hidden in Sub Space, a knife and a small blaster.

Her father had always insisted she be thoroughly protected, especially when he wasn't around. It was good advice and meant he felt a little easier about her being away from him. Being the only daughter of the Prime wasn't an easy burden, she constantly had people worrying and watching over her.

Or at least when she was younger she did, now she had a bit more independence. She even led a small group in the fight against the Decepticons, a mixed group of Femmes and Mechs, each with different skills. Her skills included leadership and she happened to be quite a good Medic though she hadn't trained as one.

It meant she was much more level headed than of her fellow Commanders, she considered just how badly her bots could be injured and what could she do to reduce this risk. Not that she was afraid to form plans and send her troops out, she was just much more aware of what could go wrong.

She had a SIC who was much more ready to leap into battle, guns blazing so this nicely balanced her cautious nature. Chromia was probably already organising those up above and looking for her and any others who might have fallen.

Speaking of which, she tried her comm. but it stuttered and wouldn't pick up a signal. She realised that it wouldn't work while she was this far underground, the minerals in the rock and soil just interfered with it too much. Perhaps if she got higher up, she'd have better luck with her comm.

She got up carefully, wondering which direction she should take. Neither direction looked different to the other, so she's have to judge by where she'd been on the surface. She ended up deciding it would be best to take the right tunnel, that should take her back to the city.

Or so she hoped.

She sighed again and then straightened her back, there was no point on dwelling on her situation. So with a brisk pace, she started down her chosen tunnel, sense on high alert. If there was anything down here, she'd be ready.

It was so quiet down here, no sounds whatsoever. The humidity was starting to affect her though, her cooling systems were starting to go into over drive. This wasn't good, if she stayed down here for too long, she'd overheat. She couldn't understand how the miners stood it, especially considering how deep they'd go in search of precious Energon.

She didn't know any, a lot of them had gone over to the Decepticon side. Mind you, sometimes this war could be considered a war of classes, the majority of Decepticons were from the lower classes. She knew many Autobots considered them uneducated brutes but she wondered about this.

Was it really that simple?

She'd never met one properly and she was the type that didn't like to form an opinion too quickly. It came with her cautious nature whereas others were much quicker to fix stereotypes and believe every word of them. But how many of those stereotypes were true?

She mulled over all this questions as she continued walking. She didn't want to risk her vehicle mode, who knew how unstable this tunnel really was. Besides, she could hear better in her bot form and would be able to spot danger quicker.

She was sure she'd been walking for hours when she finally came across an obstacle. So far, this had just been a single tunnel with none branching off. And now she'd come across a rock fall which completely blocked the tunnel. All that walking for nothing.

She couldn't help it, she let rip with a few choice swears that would have her father scolding her and her friends laughing. But as the echoes died away, she heard something. A sort of scuffling and it was coming from behind that pile of rocks and dirt.

"Is someone there?" she called hopefully, could a rescue be right behind them.

There was silence for a moment and then someone tapped sharply on the other side and she almost cried with relief. Everything was going to be fine, she needn't have worried.

"Do you think you can get through?" she questioned.

She wasn't sure if they'd come for her or whether they'd been trapped too. If they'd been trapped and had been trying to get out, she could show them the other tunnel that she'd declined to go into. Together, they should be able to get out of this maze.

A series of taps on the rock and then she heard the sound of shifting rubble. With a happy smile, she pitched in, moving the ones from the top first so as not to cause the whole lot to fall on top of her.

She soon realised it was only one bot behind the rock pile, judging by the sounds she could make out. That made it much more likely that they had fallen prey to the earth tremor but this didn't bother her. At least they'd both have some company down here and who knows, maybe she could get a friend out of this.

It wouldn't be long now, the rocks were disappearing at a fast pace and soon she would see who it was. As a particularly large piece of rubble tumbled down, her vision was briefly obscured by dust but she could just make out someone peering from the hole they'd managed to make.

Coughing, she leaned forward, rubbing at her optics in an attempt to rub away the dust. She felt someone take hold of her while her vision was obscured and pull her through the gap they'd made. She was so surprised by this action that she didn't struggle, just allowed herself to be set back on her feet once she was through.

As her vision cleared, a deep and amused voice said.

"Well, this is an interesting situation we find ourselves in."

"What...?" she started to say before gasping as she saw who the mysterious bot was.

A tall, broad shouldered Mech smiled down at her, gripping her forearms tightly. He was nearly grey all over but had some red and black highlights, mostly around his middle. Scarlet red optics were fixed on her shocked face as he smiled down at her.

"Megatron," she said quietly as she looked upon the Decepticon leader's son.

"Elita One," he said in a deep slightly rasping voice.

"Prime's little princess...and my prisoner."

Elita's optics flashed and she angrily tried to jerk out of his grasp but he held onto her. So she snarled.

"Let go of me."

"I don't think so," he said coolly.

Letting go of one of her arms, he took a pair of stasis cuffs from sub space and snapped them on one wrist. She struggled but he managed to snap the other one on too, rendering her helpless. Smirking, Megatron took her arm and started to led her back along the tunnel that he'd been trapped in.

Elita tried to jerk out of his grasp again but he had to firm a hold on her. So she was forced to stumble along at his side as he strode forward.

"Do you have any idea where you're going?" she asked irritably.

"No," he said casually. "But these old mineshafts are a maze, they all connect up. Sooner or later, we'll find a way out."

"So we're just going to wander around aimlessly?" she said contemptuously.

"More or less," he said in an unconcerned voice.

"Now you better do as I say or else."

"Or else what?" she sneered.

Megatron came to an abrupt halt and spun her to face him. Grabbing her chin, he brought her face close to his and hissed.

"There are plenty of things left by the miners in these old tunnels. I could easily carve you up with any of those things. Like rusted pick axes or even some corrosive acid. And trust me, you don't want to feel either of those on your armour."

She swallowed, staring helplessly into his burning optics.

"H-how do you know that?" she asked in a whisper.

Megatron snorted.

"Let's just say the bosses were very keen on...discipline."

"What?" Elita said, horrified by those implications.

"How could they do that?"

"Very easily," he said shortly.

"Now come on."

She didn't say anything but just walked as he started walking again. Her processor was in over drive about this new information. Had the miners really been tortured to keep them in line? She knew they hadn't been treated very well but this just beggared belief. This train of thought kept her occupied for the next while as they kept on walking.

Finally, they came to a junction where Megatron halted, examining his options. He looked down at her and growled.

"Stay here, I'm going down one of them. If you try to escape, I'll find you and beat you."

Looking into his optics, she saw he was deadly serious. He would run after her, catch her and do exactly as he promised. So she nodded and sank to the ground for a rest. He glared at her before marching down one of the tunnels.

She just leaned against the dusty wall, she was tired, dirty and stressed. If they managed to get out of here, he was going to take her straight to his father, Galvatron who would use her as a hostage. But that might not stop him from torturing her for information or...doing worse things.

The old purple Mech did not have a good reputation where Femmes were concerned.

She looked up as she heard the tell tale crunch of the approaching Decepticon. He looked grim which told her he'd had no luck. He shot her a glance but seemed satisfied she was staying put and headed down the other tunnel. She glanced down the third tunnel but saw there was some fresh debris littering it. This was probably the tunnel Megatron fell into during the earthquake.

At least, she assumed that's what happened, she actually had no idea how he'd ended up down here.

He came back a few minutes later, and went straight to her. Leaning down, he took hold of her arms and pulled her to her feet.

"This one looks clear," he said shortly, taking her arm and leading her down the new tunnel.

As they walked, Elita found that the temperature was steadily increasing. Elita's cooling systems kicked in harder than ever, she hated when she was stuck somewhere humid. Her amour was becoming slick with dust and condensation, she'd need a good shower after all of this.

If she was allowed one with the Decepticons she thought with a heavy sigh.

"Not nice, is it?" Megatron said quietly and she jumped slightly, not expecting him to say anything.

He indicated her filthy armour.

"Imagine being like that all the time and worse."

"Worse?" she couldn't help but ask.

"We mined minerals down here, Elita One, hundreds of different kinds as well as Energon. Unless you are cleaned regularly, they can start to form crystals on your armour, clogging up your joints and every crack they can reach. Not to mention, injuries tended to scab and go bad."

Her face creased, that sounded like hell. But he said it in such a calm matter of fact voice, like he didn't even care. But she knew behind that cold exterior he probably cared a lot, more than she could ever know.

"They weren't treated?" she asked softly.

Megatron snorted.

"Not if they were small and we could still work. Only serious injuries were given care and only very grudgingly. But it matters not, no one works these mines now."

"But it should matter," she said, her voice louder than his.

"It should," he agreed softly as the tunnel they were in started to widen until they emerged into a low craven.

It was full of equipment which lay broken and littered about the floor. There were the remains of old lighting orbs on the ceiling though Elita highly doubted any of them worked. There were a couple of doors on opposite walls as well as a few tunnel entrances. Elita stood at Megatron's side as he surveyed the room.

"This will do," he muttered quietly and led her into the craven.

As she shot him a questioning look he said.

"We'll recharge here for a few dececycles, and then I'll decide what to do from there."

Elita started to nod before realising what this meant. She would be sleeping with one of the most dangerous Mechs on the planet. The thought terrified and strangely...thrilled her.

To be continued.

_Author's note. Does anything happen between Elita and Megatron? Find out in the next chapter, until then._


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's note. I need some monsters that exist in the mines for this story, can anyone suggest some for me? If you do, you'll be credited in the next chapter, thanks._

_Suggestions are welcome._

_Enjoy and please review._

Elita swallowed as her captor surveyed the cavern they were in, trying to decide the best place to recharge. A few decacycles ago, she'd been captured by the Decepticon leader's son Megatron who had every intention of taking her to his father. The only catch was they were both trapped within Cybertron's old Energon mines and so far, a way out hadn't been discovered.

Megatron was clearly doing his best to find one but she wasn't so sure she wanted him to. Granted, she'd love to be free of the humidity and clogging dust that seemed to be everywhere, but she didn't relish being a prisoner of the Decepticon army. She'd heard too many rumours of how Femme prisoners had been treated to want to get there quickly.

But she didn't have to worry about that yet, for now, they were going to rest.

She glanced over at the grey Mech, he seemed to be testing the rock mixed with metal veins. She was no expert on mining but she figured he was making sure that it wasn't going to come crashing down on them while they slept. There were probably a lot of weaknesses caused by the earthquake.

"Elita, come here," Megatron suddenly ordered, he was apparently satisfied with the spot he'd picked out.

She walked slowly over to him, eying the area they were going to be sleeping in. There was a slight overhang of metal which would afford them some protection from settling dust and metal particles. She hoped it would also be a little cooler under it as well, she really needed to give her cooling systems a rest.

But as she got even closer, she noticed that there wasn't much space underneath it. Meaning they'd be sleeping in very close proximity, almost like a Bonded couple. She stopped dead as she realised this, unable to take another step forward.

"I said, come here," Megatron demanded, a note of anger to his voice.

She hesitated again and with a growl, he came towards her and yanked her forward. She let out a noise of distress but he didn't care. Gripping her arms, he shoved her down causing her to land heavily. As she looked up at him, she saw he was wearing a nasty sneer on his face.

"Does the little princess not want the filthy miner touching her?" he said in a tone full of venom.

Her fear disappeared as she snarled at him.

"I don't know, I don't suppose it could have _anything_ to do with the fact I'm being made to sleep with dangerous Mech I don't trust in the slightest. Who could do anything he liked to me w-while I slept."

Despite her voice cracking slightly, she carried on glaring up at him until his expression melted into a more neutral one.

"No one interfaces in the mines," he said matter-of-factly as he reached down to drag a broken piece of metal closer to her.

"Our systems could easily overheat and go into meltdown plus it's almost impossible to clean up afterwards."

She flinched at this but was a tiny bit reassured. She'd been worrying about him forcing himself on her, he could if he wanted to. He was such a large, strong Mech after all.

She sensed him at her side and turned to see him reached for her bound hands. She moved them away, not liking to have him so close. He sighed slightly then grabbed one wrist and undid the cuff on it. As she stared, he now attached the free cuff to the piece of metal he'd dragged over.

She was now chained to it and wouldn't be able to move away without a great deal of difficulty.

As she stared at it, Megatron moved to her other side and sat down, rubbing a hand across his face. He looked suddenly very tired, was he affected by the place he'd once worked in? She knew it wouldn't be very tactful to ask him so she kept quiet.

She jumped as he abruptly rolled onto his side and stretched out so that he was lying down beside her. She turned away from him, she couldn't give a damn about his social status, he was a strange Mech who she wasn't comfortable sleeping with.

Her discomfort only grew when Megatron wrapped an arm around her body, pulling her even closer to him. She squeaked slightly which caused him to mutter.

"It can get cold down here, we must preserve our energy stores."

"Oh," she said softly, trying to calm down, convince herself he was being practical not sleazy.

"I...I heard there are monsters down the mines," she said after a while of silence where neither of them fell into recharge.

"Is that true?"

He didn't say anything at first and then.

"It is."

Her optics widened.

"W-will we be safe here?" she asked, trying to sound calm and probably failing.

"I haven't detected any signs that any have been here in a very long time," he said softly.

"We're near enough to the surface that the chances of running into something are low."

"But...," she began before swallowing.

"I'm sorry, I don't like to see this but...would that earthquake have disrupted them? Could they end up coming this way?"

"It's not likely but I will keep an optic out for them," Megatron said in a surprisingly patient voice.

"Don't think about them Elita, we're safe here for the night."

"How do you know?" she asked curiously.

"I have a sense for this place," he said simply. "And I don't feel anything at the moment, just relax and rest, we need our strength for tomorrow."

"Okay," she said softly, realising she truly had to place her trust in this Mech, not only with her body but with her very life.

It was a very sobering thought.

"I'll try."

"Do so," he murmured, his body relaxing against hers.

He fell into recharge very soon after that.

She couldn't fall asleep, her processor was just too active. She felt that if she fell into recharge, she'd only dream of monsters haunting these old mineshafts and she just couldn't get this thought out of her head. She knew this wasn't a good idea, Megatron was right, she needed to sleep and reserve her energy.

So she tried to think of her friends and family, her mother Arcee had always told her to do this when she was in a bad situation. So that what she did, trying to imagine how others would react in this situation.

She giggled, Chromia would probably be flirting, she loved strong, rough Mechs. Her boyfriend Ironhide meanwhile, would be cursing and trying to compete with his captor, determined to prove how mechly he was. That would only end in both of them hitting each other so it was just as well he wasn't here.

What about Greenlight, how would she cope? She was a rather quiet Femme who underestimated by those who didn't know her. She was quite patient but if you pushed her too far, she'd let you know. She loved music and was dating a former DJ called Blaster, a tape deck.

Greenlight had been there during the earthquake and had been the last bot Elita had seen before she plunged down. She really hoped she hadn't fallen as well, she couldn't bear the thought of her lovely friend down here. What's worse, she'd probably be all alone too.

Thinking about her friends helped her forget her fear of mine monsters and she gradually drifted off. A little time had passed after she fell into recharge when Megatron woke. He blinked, then gazed down at his captive, seeing that she was soundly asleep.

His optics flicked around the cavern, checking that everything was well. The place was still, eerily so but it didn't bother him. Those who'd never worked here would find it unnerving but he found it comforting. There was no danger at this point, it was safe to recharge.

But he knew this could change at any point which was why he'd wake up several times during their time recharging, just to make sure. It was a habit he'd picked up very young, only if he was in a very secure place and surrounded by others did he sleep through the night. But this didn't happen very useful, he was used to it.

So after one last sensor scan and glance, he settled back down, pulling the warm body of the Autobot Femme closer. She shifted but didn't wake, she was worn out. But, despite the fact she was an Autobot princess, she was fairly plucky.

He liked that.

So with an ironic smile, he fell back into recharge. There were no earth tremors or mine monsters, so their sleep went undisturbed. But by the time Elita woke up several decacycles later, Megatron had woken up at least three times.

"Mmm," she mumbled, wondering why her side felt so heavy.

She jabbed with her elbow, trying to dislodge whatever it was. But it didn't work, she was still being crushed by something strangely warm. She grumbled, this was why she didn't like sleeping with others unless it was necessary, somehow she always ended up squashed.

"Get off," she snarled, trying to roll and get rid of the weight.

But as she moved, something jerked her supposedly free wrist and she looked back in shock to see that it was chained to junk metal. Her optics were wide, what in Primus's name...

And then she remembered all that had happened. How she'd fallen, how she'd been captured and who was holding her prisoner. She slowly turned her head to see Megatron almost sprawled on top of her.

His optics were dim and he wasn't moving, meaning he was still in recharge. His arms were wrapped somewhat loosely around her and it appeared he moved while in recharge. She started trying to wriggle her way out of his grip, she didn't want to be curled up next to him for any more than she had to be.

It was easy, she could only use one hand to get him off but eventually she managed. But he just carried on sleeping, mouth shut tightly. She thought this was odd, most bots slept with their mouths partly open at least. Why didn't he?

She got her answer a moment later when she suddenly started coughing, her mouth and the back of her throat was coated in dust particles. It seemed Megatron had learned to sleep with his mouth shut to avoid this. She wished she'd known about this before going into recharge.

"Urgh, I really want a shower," she groaned, edging further away from Megatron who continued recharging.

She tried to wipe away the dust on her armour but this only smeared it so she gave up. She briefly wondered if she should try and escape. Megatron was asleep after all and didn't look like he'd be waking up any time soon. But she soon decided against this, it would take time to free herself and if Megatron woke up in the middle of this, he'd punish her.

Not to mention, where would she go? It probably wouldn't be a problem for him to track her down and beat her until she couldn't walk. So for now, she was staying put. But while he was sleeping, she decided she'd have some Energon.

All Autobots carried Energon rations in their sub space compartments for emergencies like this. She quickly took two bright pink ones from her compartment and ate them, feeling the brilliant rush they brought. She sighed in contentment, she'd really needed that.

She glanced down at Megatron, wondering if he had his own rations. She wasn't sure if she should tell him she had her own in case he demanded all of them. While she didn't mind sharing, she didn't want to lose all of them just in case she needed them later.

As she was lost in thought, Megatron started to wake up. She saw him move slightly and knew he'd be online within a few breems. She quickly got rid of the evidence she'd been consuming Energon and waited for him to wake up properly.

His optics flashed bright red as he on lined and they immediately fixed on her. She held that gaze as a smirk curved his rather well cut features. She wasn't going to let him push her around.

"Well, how's Prime's princess this cycle?"

"I'm fine," she said coolly, ignoring the jibe.

"What about you?"

"Fine," he said with a shrug, sitting up and rubbing his face.

"But we've got a long day ahead of us Elita, so get ready."

"Right," she said sardonically, jerking her cuffs.

His smirk widened, his optics travelling over it.

"Since you haven't tried to get away, I'll be kind and let you have few moments free."

So saying this, he leaned over and undid her cuffs completely so that she was free. She stared at him before getting to her feet. He watched her but didn't react. She took a step backwards and he still didn't move.

"I'll just have a walk around then," she said softly and he nodded.

She could feel his optics on her as she walked about, taking care not to stumble on any potholes or junk. She knew he was probably hoping she'd tried to escape but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. Besides, she'd rather obey him for now if it meant getting out of those cuffs.

She wandered over to a section that was made up of an old machine which looked like it was meant to crush rock and metal. At least, that's what she guessed it was for by what little she could see of it but much of it was broken or utterly rusted. She doubted anything useful was left inside this machine, any good parts would have been salvaged long ago.

Still, she was curious, you should never let any useful parts go to waste so she took a closer look. Embedded in the part that crushed the materials were some faintly glowing crystals. She carefully reached out to touch them, they surprisingly didn't crumble under her touch.

She tugged them out and examined them closely. They glowed just a touch brighter but she had no idea if they had any value. So she sub spaced them for now, and continued on her way, exploring the cavern.

She didn't look at Megatron though she could feel his gaze. And it was just as well he was watching her so closely as she found out a few moment later.

Something hit her head and she glanced up to get a face full of dust and tiny rocks. But the moment, she heard a shout before sometime rammed into her. As she gasped, she felt Megatron forcing her to the ground and covering her with his body as the cavern suddenly shook with an earth tremor causing a hail of metal and rocks to rain down.

She couldn't make a sound, Megatron was crushing her, there was noise everywhere as the roof of the cavern continued to fall on top of them. But the time it was over, Elita could barely moved, she was completely covered by both grit and Mech.

He shifted and shoved himself out of the pile, leaving her in a hollow of the stuff. She twisted, staring up at him as he looked back down at her, debris trickling off his shoulder and head. She was sure he was probably dented and cut from the rock fall but he hadn't hesitated to save her from the worst of it.

For a moment, they just stared at each other and then suddenly Megatron swooped down and crushed his lips against hers. She couldn't move, she was pinned by this single point of pressure against her lips meaning Megatron got a kiss without protest.

But then Megatron shoved himself off her fully and stalked away, taking stock of this latest tremor. She pushed herself up, finding that she was buried waist deep in all this debris, which showed just what a lucky escape she'd had.

"When something falls on you down here, you don't hesitate, just get out of the way," Megatron now growled as though she should have known this.

"I might not be quick enough next time."

"I...I'll try," she said softly, wondering what that action and that kiss could mean.

To be continued.

_Author's note. Elita and Megatron run afoul of some of the creatures which dwell in the old mines but what happens? Find out next time, until then._


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's note. With thanks to Jovianokamigirl and madisonxhougen for their monster suggestions, they will be used, thanks so much._

_Suggestion are welcome._

_Enjoy and please review._

Elita stayed where she was as Megatron started examining the whole cavern again, checking there wouldn't be another rock fall. Elita knew she could have been seriously injured if Megatron had forced her to the ground before covering her whole body with his. He'd taken the brunt of the rock fall and come away with a few dents and cuts.

She was not built for the mines, her injuries would have been worse, especially if she'd been standing, she could have suffered a head injury. But there was no point in dwelling on what ifs, not when Megatron had done something even more unexpected.

He had kissed her, actually kissed her and she had no idea what that meant. Obviously she knew what kissing normally meant but somehow she had no idea why he'd done that. Was he attracted to her and since interfacing was out of the question, taking the next best thing.

Was he just trying to release some stress after that near disaster with the rock fall? Bots did do crazy things after the rush that followed some quick, dangerous action. Megatron's kiss could mean absolutely nothing.

But what if it did mean something, what if he...liked her.

She glanced over at him, his back was to her as he wiped away grit from his arms. She felt a little guilty for causing those injures and getting more dust clogged up in his systems. She was still grateful for what he'd done of course but she didn't want him hurt in the process.

She shook her as she remembered the kiss again, she knew she was over analysing it but she couldn't help it. He was an enemy Mech holding her hostage, she needed to know what that kiss meant. However, she knew she couldn't ask him, in case he sneered at her and called her a pathetic Autobot Princess, a nickname she really disliked.

Hoping, that kiss was the only strange or personal thing he was going to do to her and she could just forget it ever happened.

"Ah," she suddenly cried as she felt something shift near her leg, there was something in the debris.

Megatron spun around, drawing a blaster from sub space as he heard her cry. His optics narrowed as he saw the grit and stones move near Elita and took a step forward. But the next moment, he'd lowered his blaster as a small head popped up.

Elita flinched away, not knowing what it was but all it did was swivel its head about before clawing its way out of the debris. It was a long creature with massive paws with sharp flat claws that must be used for digging. It didn't have optics but she could see sensory spots at its head as well as a wide mouth lined with sharp little teeth.

It was actually quite cute, with its dark body lined with sensory panels which kept rising and then flattening against its body. Its longish snort twitched as it examined its new environment and then started scuttling all over the place.

Megatron sighed as he put the blaster away, as Elita slowly got up.

"What is it?" she asked softly.

"A Mecho-Mole," Megatron said, eying it as it snuffled the ground.

"Their one of the few harmless things down here, they search out Energon and munch on it."

"It's cute," Elita admitted as she saw it finds a few flakes and eagerly snuffle them up.

"I suppose," Megatron said with a shrug. "Our Younglings enjoyed keeping them as picks, they can be quite friendly."

This made Elita smile and she cautiously approached the Mecho-Mole. Megatron rolled his optics and went back to making sure there were no more nasty surprises. At least the Mecho-Mole's arrival was ominous, they tended to be in the higher level of the mines, near the surface. They were known for sometimes emerging onto the surface, and scurrying over it, looking for new sites to bury into.

They could sometimes be useful for finding Energon but you couldn't rely on them, they just weren't trainable. The best you could hope for was if they suddenly started burying with frenzied energy, then it was likely there was a vein nearby.

But even then, this vein wasn't always in a single direction, the Mecho-Mole could easily bury down after burying up. So yeah, they were no good for mining but at least they were harmless. It was nice not having to worry about them.

Once he was satisfied that there wasn't going to be another rock fall, he turned back to Elita who was stroking the Mecho-Mole. It was nuzzling against her hand and appeared to be enjoying the attention, though it was probably hoping she had some Energon for it.

Speaking of Energon, he needed some. He was hoping he could find some leftover of Ore so that he could produce some emergency Energon. It would be hard to process but it would help keep him going if he ran out of rations. Though he wasn't sure how well his prisoner would cope but she probably had some rations too, it would be beyond stupid not to carry any.

"You'd better eat now, we'll be going soon," he told her and she looked up at him, a slight flush on her cheeks.

This made him think she'd already consumed some but was worried about him taking her Energon. Well, he'd see how they got on, if they were stuck down here for at least three more cycles, he'd start demanding she show him what she had.

He took out a small cube of highly concentrated Energy which would burn slowly throughout the cycle, perfect for their journey through the mines. If they were lucky, they might find some high energy crystals that could be eaten, they grew down here. Of course, with hungry miners about, they were always eaten but enough was left so they could keep on growing.

They were also used in expensive sweets for the upper classes but were rare as they only grew down in the hot mines and were usually eaten. But if a miner on a good cycle found some, he'd harvest them and sell them to a manufacturer of sweets. This was one of the few times they weren't cheated, since they could easily eat them, they were paid a decent price.

But they went so hungry that it was often better just to eat the damn things rather than sell them.

He quickly ate his cube, he wanted to get out of this place and return to the surface. Elita had actually been correct in her assumptions the previous cycle, this earthquake could have easily force some of the monsters that lived down here closer to the surface. And though he hadn't detected anything yet, that could all change in a flash.

As soon as he was finished, he tossed the remains to the Mecho-Mole who eagerly gobbled them up. That was another slight advantage to a Mecho-Mole, they wouldn't leave a single scrap of Energon that could attract other creatures.

Elita got up and headed towards him as he beckoned. She sighed as he snapped the cuffs back on, she'd been enjoying her freedom. But as he took her arm to lead her down a new passageway, he said.

"If there's another rock fall, run for it, don't think about me, just run."

She stared at him, he was telling her to leave him behind? That was such a...noble thing to say though she figured he was just being practical. But still, to tell your prisoner to save themselves if the worst should happen, it was unbelievable.

But he wasn't finished yet.

"There are many creatures down here, Elita and most aren't harmless like that Mecho-Mole. If you hear anything, see anything or smell anything strange, you tell me straight away. I will protect you and if necessary, free you from those cuffs to fight."

"I...understand," she said softly as the Mecho-Mole scuttled just behind them.

"I'll do as you say and tell if I sense something strange."

"Good Princess, we may make it out here in one piece," he said sardonically but he appeared to be pleased she was willing to cooperate and not argue.

"So, what other creatures' do you find down here?" Elita asked softly as they left the cavern and started down a chamber.

"Rock Monsters," Megatron said quietly. "They resemble the surrounding rock and metal, and they hate to be disturbed. Their very territorial and though they aren't too hard to fend off, they can do some damage if they take you by surprise, which is often. But attacks by them are very rarely fatal so don't worry about them."

Elita nodded, knowing she'd regard each odd looking rock formation with suspension now.

"But there are much worse things down here," he now said darkly.

As she looked at him, he said in a grim voice.

"Some monsters were once Mechs."

"What?" she said, not understanding.

"Some have been lost down here," Megatron said quietly. "So long that they have turned...cannibal."

"No," Elita said in horror, they didn't have many taboos, not like organic worlds but consuming the Energon blood from another bot was just...vile.

"Yes," Megatron said firmly. "They are beyond reason Elita, if they see you, they will kill you and drain your body of its fluid. And then use all of your parts to keep themselves going a little longer."

Elita wanted to clap her hands over her mouth but she resisted, it helped Megatron was holding her arm.

"But they were created unintentionally," Megatron continued. "Others weren't."

"What do you mean?" Elita asked, almost trembling, what could be worse.

"There are Mechs down here called Mutants," Megatron said with a growl. "Experiments that went wrong and were abandoned down here and now they want revenge against any _normal_ Mechs they see."

"Who?" she asked, really trembling now at the evil bots could perform.

"Scientists, inventors, those with a bit too much time and credits," Megatron said darkly.

"But these kind of experiments rarely work and it is even more rare that they are voluntary,"

"You mean they...take bots off the street?" Elita questioned, knowing the answer but needing to ask.

"Those who won't be missed, or so they claim," Megatron replied, confirming her worst fears.

"I...can't believe that, how can they justify something like that?"

"It's for the good of Cybertron," Megatron sneered, sounding as though he was quoting.

"If we're lucky, we won't run into any Mutants or Caninibalizers at all down here."

Elita nodded earnestly but couldn't help but ask.

"Can anything be done...?"

"No," Megatron said shortly and harshly before giving her a sharp look.

"Elita, if you see one, you either get away or kill it, in fact, killing is the kindest thing you can do. They do not _live_ like others creatures down here, even a Rat Monster has a better life than they do. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Elita said firmly even as she sent a silent prayer to Primus for the Sparks that had been lost. She prayed he'd take them into the well when they were finally deactivated.

They continued walking in silence, the Mecho-Mole happily trailing behind them. Elita's sensors were tingling, now that Megatron had told her all about the monsters that existed down here. Every little sound was a Rock Monster lurking, every shadow was a Mutant waiting to pounce.

She shivered, now more than ever wanting to get out of these stifling tunnels. This one seemed long and endless and the humidity was slowly rising. She glanced at Megatron and saw how his optics were darting everywhere as he examined the surrounding walls with an expert optic. He was on the lookout for another.

A few hours later, she started to relax about monsters but she was becoming disheartened by their lack of progress. The only good news was that this tunnel was not sloping down, meaning they weren't descending into the mines depths. In fact, this tunnel was pretty level but she wondered why it was so long without an exit apart from that blocked up one.

But Megatron had quickly discovered that it was totally blocked and digging through was pointless. So they'd carried on and Elita was becoming more and more tired so finally, Megatron said they could have a break.

She'd sat down while he closely examined the walls, trying to gauge something from it. She leaned back against the wall, it was so hot and dirty down here and they'd been walking for so long. It wasn't pleasant being cuff for hours at a time either and she ruefully rubbed her wrists awkwardly.

But as she relaxed there, she started to feel a little groggy and she could swear something was touching her back. She twisted and let out a scream when she saw a glowing, pulsing thing hanging off her back.

Megatron was beside her in an instant and he quickly swiped the thing away but more were appearing out of the wall and trying to latch on. Megatron pulled her up and started dragging her quickly away even as he snarled.

"Energy leeches, just what we need."

She stared back at the horrible, slimy looking black tube that bulged with stolen energy. She shivered, that thing had been trying to drain her energy and invite its buddies for a feed too. But she wasn't sure why Megatron was so upset, it hadn't been hard to deal with it, though they numbers had alarmingly increased.

"Why...," she started to ask but he snarled.

"Because they attract Monster Rats," he snapped, still dragging her along. "And those slaggers are slag to deal with...frag it."

He'd come to a halt and Elita almost screamed at the sight that met her optics.

A huge, purple coloured rodent was hissing at them, head lowered as it glared at them with angry yellow eyes. Unlike Retro or Cyber Rats, who were just vicious annoyances, this thing looked like it could actually pose a threat.

Megatron very slowly pushed her behind him, this thing could attack at any moment. She so wished she wasn't cuffed, she didn't want to be helpless when it did. Megatron very carefully sub spaced a knife and activated it, it was a sharp looking fighting cyber blade.

And then, it pouched, snarling and biting as it lunged at Megatron. Megatron snarled and caught it and she had to leap out of the way as he crashed to the ground, now wrestling the hissing mass of rodent. It was doing its best to bite and claw Megatron but he was holding his own, even though he couldn't use his blade while he was holding it.

She had to do something, she couldn't let him fight like this.

So she scanned the ground, looking for a weapon and found a large stone. With only slight trouble, she lifted it up and stepped forward, watching as the two wrestled on the ground. She had to chose carefully, she couldn't risk hurting Megatron, he was the only one who could get them both safely out.

Finally, she slammed it down on the Monster Rat's spine, causing it to howl with pain and rage. It tried to free its self from Megatron and attack her but Megatron brought his blade down, stabbing it behind its head.

It howled and thrashed but he stabbed it again and again until it lay twitching on the floor, in its death throes.

Megatron panted, staring at the rat's body and then the stone Elita had thrown and finally at her. She had no idea what he was thinking as those bright red optics stared into her blue ones. Finally, he grunted, getting to his feet, he offered the bloody blade to the Mecho-Mole who had suddenly appeared, which began to eagerly lick it.

He then grabbed the rat's tail and dragged it into the direction of the Energy Leeches, leaving a trail of Energon blood behind. Elita now collapsed on her knees, her limbs shaking. She'd seen death before but never so brutal, so bloody. She understood why but that didn't really make it any easier to deal with.

"The Leeches will take care of the body, they'll suck it dry," Megatron said as he returned, scooping up the now clean blade and sub spacing it.

"We don't want it attracting anything, we seem to be moving into a dangerous area."

"What will we do tonight?" Elita asked softly.

"We keep going until we find a safe place to sleep," Megatron said simply. "We'll stop for another break if we don't find something soon but if we do, we'll lock ourselves in for the rest of the cycle, regardless of how much time's left."

She nodded, she'd liked nothing better than to do that. He stared down at her and then, lifting her to her feet, said.

"You didn't panic and you didn't hit me. Not too shabby for a Princess."

And without another word, they set off once more.

A couple more hours later, they managed to find an old safe house where miners could go to shelter from Monsters or other disasters. It wasn't very big but for too weary travellers, it was perfect. It had a proper though very dusty berth and though there was no Energon to be found, there was something just as good.

A workable shower.

Elita almost cried with joy when she spotted it and even Megatron looked mildly happier. After securely locking them inside and shoving some old heavy creates against the hatch, he'd taken her cuffs off.

"You can go use that shower," he said, waving her away.

"I'll be here, I'm going to see what's here, exactly."

"Thank you," she said gratefully and he nodded before letting her go.

It was the most glorious feeling she'd ever had, the feeling of hot water and cleaner going over her armour. It seemed this shower tapped into a natural supply of some sort and of course, the water was recycled afterwards. The temperate wasn't as hot as she'd normally have but after the last few cycles, it felt like pure heaven.

And only after she'd scrubbed away the very last trace of dirt and metal particle did she step out of the shower. She knew she'd get dirty as soon as she left this place but she just needed for feel clean for one night cycle. She'd gone into the shower fully dressed but had taken her armour off after scrubbing it and done her protoform until her whole body was clean again.

Feeling very happy, she came out to find Megatron had actually cleaned the berth, it seemed he fancied clean as well. She knew they'd be sleeping together again but she just didn't care, she wanted to forget her trouble and just have a good sleep.

"We'll have something before we recharge," he said, going past her, and heading for the shower.

He was very eager, so she didn't stop him but relaxed on the berth. It was old but still comfy and a hundred times better than the ground. As she looked idly around, she saw that the Mecho-Mole had managed to follow them inside and was keenly exploring.

She was surprised it didn't mind being locked up, you couldn't burrow out of here but it seemed delighted. But then something caught its attention and it charged for the shower. She jumped to her feet, she didn't want it to get hurt and without thinking, rushed in to retrieve it.

She gasped at the sight that met her optics, just as she was scooping the Mecho-Mole up. With his back to her, slowly washing away the grit coating him was Megatron and he was completely naked. Unlike her, he hadn't waited and had taken everything off as soon as he'd gone in.

She was currently being treated to a view of his aft which...wasn't bad at all.

He half turned his muscular body and examined her, his face completely neutral. She knew she was blushing, she hadn't meant to rush in like that, it was so rude, especially as he'd done nothing of the sort. But a part of her was really hoping he'd turn around some more, she couldn't see _everything_ from here.

But instead, he turned back to face the overhead nozzle and carried on as though she wasn't there. So with a muttered 'sorry', she quickly left, carrying the Mecho-Mole and feeling very confused now.

_Author's note. What further challenges do Elita and Megatron face? Find out next time, until then._


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's note. Going to be working a lot for the next couple of weeks, don't know when I'll be able to update this again. Hope you all like this anyway._

_Suggestions are welcome._

_Enjoy and please review._

Elita sat on the berth with her legs drawn up, the little Mecho Mole curled up nearby as she lightly stroked it. She couldn't believe what had just happened, she'd just come across Megatron completely naked while having a shower. She'd been chasing the Mecho Mole who she'd named Meko when he'd run into the shower room, forgetting that Megatron was inside.

But even then, she hadn't thought he'd actually be stripped of his armour that soon. She'd only taken off her armour after it was utterly clean but Megatron hadn't bothered to wait to clean his protoform. And she had to admit, it was a rather nice protoform although she'd only see the back.

She smiled slightly, she hadn't seen many naked Mechs, while they were at War, her parents had still wanted her to be brought up like a proper Femme. So while she did have Mech friends, she'd rarely seen any of them without full armour. The first time she'd seen anything was doing a first aid course where she'd been taught all the basics about bot forms.

And once that had happened, her father had sat her down for a very frank talk about dating and other such matters. Her poor father had clearly wanted to delay this for as long as possible because he didn't want to admit she wasn't his little Femme anymore but he was determined she would have all the information she'd need.

And after her father had talked to her, her mother had come in and told her a little more. She'd given her daughters details her mate hadn't been willing to say and it had been a big help to Elita and helped her understand better.

Which was why she was able to discern what the hot feeling deep in her abdomen was, she knew what it meant.

But she had no idea what to think about it, she shouldn't be having those feelings towards Megatron, should she? He was going to hand her over to his father to be used as a valuable hostage but on the other hand, he had treated her quite well. And he was a quite attractive Mech, even if he was the enemy.

Before she could dwell further on this train of thought, she heard the sounds of the shower being turned off. That meant Megatron would appear soon and reminded her that they would be eating before going into recharge. She decided she should offer some form of apology, even if he hadn't seemed bothered by her intrusion.

She didn't want any bad energon between them.

So she sub spaced a couple of rations of decent Energon which would keep them going during the night's recharge. It meant their systems wouldn't struggle as the recharge to take care of any problems that had come up during the cycle but wouldn't be wasted. When they came out of recharge tomorrow, they would need to consume some Energon of a higher energy content but this wouldn't need to be a really big amount if they'd fed the night before.

She willed herself not to blush when he came into the room, she didn't want to come off as a naive little Femme who'd never seen bare protoform before. But it wasn't easy, all she could think about was that taunt aft with little streams of water running off it...

"Stop it," she told herself sternly but quietly. "You're being an idiot, grow up."

She inhaled some air and then exhaled, slowly calming down. She could hear him moving around in that room and knew his entrance was imminent. So after schooling her features into an appropriate expression, she turned towards the doorway as Megatron appeared in it.

He had a strange expression on his face but thankfully it wasn't one of anger. But then she wondered if it was tiredness, he must surely be exhausted. She felt a rush of sympathy for him, she was tired too but Megatron had been injured in a rock fall earlier and had fought off a Rat Monster.

"I've got some Energon here," she softly, trying not to think too timid.

"Good," he said, looking please as he collapsed onto the berth next to her.

He definitely was tired but he still looked much better than before finding this safe house. His armour was clean and he didn't look so rough any more. He grabbed the Energon ration and started gulping it down, sighing with pleasure as his energy levels were replenished.

"I'm sorry for rushing in like that," Elita said in a rush as Megatron was still drinking.

"I was chasing Meko and...he ran right in and I didn't mean..."

"It's alright," Megatron said unconcernedly before saying.

"Meko? You named that Mecho Mole?"

"Uh, yeah," Elita said with a slight flush. "I just thought...since he's hanging around, it wouldn't hurt."

Megatron shrugged as he finished his ration of Energon, she was still having hers.

"You can call it whatever you won't but you'll have to leave it behind when we get out of here."

"I know," Elita said quietly as he tossed the remainder of his ration onto the ground, where Meko set upon it eagerly.

She knew it was probably silly but she just didn't want to refer to the Mecho Mole as it, she wanted a name to call him by. She quickly finished her Energon before tossing the remains near Meko, who delightedly set upon it. She smiled, he acted like he'd never seen such a treat before but perhaps he hadn't eaten so well in a very long well.

She sighed and settled down on the berth, lying on her side away from Megatron. As soon as she was down, he pulled her close before making himself comfortable. She sighed very softly but somehow didn't mind that much. At least they were both clean and it didn't matter if they snuggled a little.

Megatron suddenly moved and she turned to see him pressing a panel which dimmed the lights until they went out completely. Megatron then settled himself back down again, pressing Elita close against him chest. Elita could hear Meko snuffling around but he didn't sound distressed so she wasn't worried about him.

But, even though she was in a nice, comfy berth and was with a Mech she knew wasn't going to harm her and in fact, would protect her, she began to feel nervous. They were in a safe house but the fact that there could be monsters right outside it, right at that moment began to play on her nerves.

They were trapped deep underground, in a small, totally dark box while unspeakable creatures roamed outside. Oh Primus, they were probably just waiting to pounce as soon as she and Megatron left this safe house. But was this place truly safe, what if they tried to get in?

Some of those monsters had once been normal Mechs, maybe they would know how to get in. She started to tremble as she imagined them scrabbling to get in, clawing at the protective metal. It didn't help she was in virtual darkness where her imagination could really take flight.

"Uh," she gasped softly, her was body tense and she couldn't relax enough to fall into recharge.

The things Megatron had told them about those creatures was terrifying and she kept replaying the fight with the Rat Monster. That one creature had been enough to take all of Megatron's attention and strength to keep it at bay. What would happen if more than one of them attacked, what if a whole pack of them came at them all at once.

As she trembled, she heard a faint growl and then Megatron spoke.

"Elita, what is wrong?"

"I...," she stuttered, feeling so scared but also ashamed of herself.

"I...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you, it's nothing."

She felt Megatron's hand shift and trail up to her face where he lightly touched her face. She knew he could feel the tears slowly slipping down her face, making it clear that she was distressed. She heard him sigh slightly and then he released his hold on her so she could roll onto her back.

She could just make out his face by the light of his bright red optics though she couldn't make out his expression.

"What's the matter?" he asked softly as she looked away.

"I'm scared," she admitted softly, her fear overriding her embarrassment.

"Of what, me?"

"No," she said loudly before saying quickly.

"I...I mean not really, you've not tried anything and you've protected me, I'm not scared of you at the moment though I respect your strength."

He nodded once before saying.

"So what are you scared of?"

"What's out there," Elita said very softly. "After what happened today, it just feels that as soon as we leave this place...w-we'll be attacked and I'm scared."

"Ah," he said, understanding entering his tone, which surprised her, she thought he would sneer at her.

"I know it's stupid," she said in a rush. "I know I'm being silly, I just can't stop thinking about it all and what could happen."

"Elita," he said in a gentle tone. "It's alright, I understand."

"How?" she said weakly and miserably.

"You're a rookie," he explained softly. "You've never spent any proper time in the mines before and you've never encountered any of those creatures again."

She shook her head in agreement, she'd never been in this situation before. She thought she saw Megatron smile as he said.

"Elita, it doesn't matter if you've been brought up to be a miner, every bot that enters the mines to work for the first time is a rookie. Not only do they not have any experience or knowledge, it means that they get scared easily. Even the hard ones," he added with a slight smirk in his voice.

"But every veteran knows and understands this, they look out for those rookies and help them get over their fear. Almost every single rookie freezes when they first encounter one of those monsters, the question is, for how long."

Elita nodded, she was beginning to see what he was talking about.

"I won't let any harm come to you," he said softly, stroking her cheek gently.

"We won't be caught by surprise by those creatures or take any unnecessary risks tomorrow. And I will do my best to find the quickest, safest route out of this pit hole. Now, try to relax, nothing can hurt us while we're in here, and don't think about tomorrow, just relax."

"I'll try," she said shakily before a thought hit her.

"You know tomorrow?" she said before saying. "Please, don't cuff me, I felt so damn helpless earlier when you were attacked by that Monster Rat. If we're attacked, I'll need to be able to defend myself, I promise I won't try anything."

Megatron considered her for a moment before slowly nodding.

"Alright, I won't cuff you and you may have a weapon. But once we're out of danger, they go back on, understand?"

"I do," she said firmly. "I...I just can't have them on tomorrow, not when we're going through those tunnels."

Megatron nodded before drawing her into his arms again, only this time her face was buried against his armour. He seemed to sense she needed extra comfort in order to recharge this night. And she very gratefully snuggled into him, sighing at the feel of his strong arms around her, feeling safe once again.

_Author's note. What happens when Megatron and Elita leave the safety of the Safe House? Find out next time, until then._


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's note. Sorry for the wait, hope everyone enjoys._

_Suggestions are welcome._

_Enjoy and please review._

When Elita woke, she felt warm and safe as someone held her close on a berth. For a moment, she simply sighed with pleasure as she snuggled against someone who was warm and holding her close. No alerts appeared in her processor warned her that she should wake up as quickly as possible so she half dozed.

"Mmm," she mumbled, as she tried snuggling closer, she just felt so good right now, she didn't want to wake up.

"As much as I'm enjoying this, we'll have to get up soon," a voice suddenly said very softly in her audio but she still didn't full register.

"A few more minutes," she moaned, her limbs were stiff, making her even more unwilling to get up, or even open her optics.

She heard a sigh and whoever it was, released their grip on her so that she rolled back onto her back. Before she could curl up into a ball, she felt something warm on her lips, pressing down gently. For a moment, she was surprised but then she kissed back automatically, even opening her mouth slightly.

As soon as this happened, a glossia slipped into her mouth and began to probe the inside. This made her groan and she started to fall asleep again as pleasure over took her. But then she felt the pleasurable kiss end, though whoever was kissing her was still very close. Their mouth moved over her cheek and down her neck to her right shoulder.

And that's when a sharp pain erupted between her neck and shoulder.

"Ouch," she cried, her optics snapping open with pain and shock.

She was greeted by the sight of Megatron, leaning over her with a smirk on his face. His fangs were bared but they retreated as he closed his mouth. She moved her hand up to touch the place where he'd bitten her, it was only slightly dented with no leaking Energon. However, she was still very annoyed about this.

"What did you do that for?" she demanded angrily.

"To wake you up?" he said with a shrug and a smug look on his face.

She scowled before saying.

"You could have woken me up the normal way...and why did you kiss me?"

"Because I felt like it?" Megatron replied smugly before rolling away from her.

For a moment, she was furious and she rolled away so that she was facing the opposite direction. But as she lay there fuming, a new thought struck her. Megatron was clearly attracted to her and though he'd stated there was no interfacing in the mines...he did have access to a shower here.

Not only that, there was a suitable berth, so no hard ground to deal with. Would he take advantage of this fact? But to her surprise, she wasn't as frightened of this prospect as she had been before, she just felt strange. Basically, she didn't know if she wanted him to take advantage of this safe house or not.

But before she could dwell on this more, she heard the sound of an Energon ration being opened, and she turned to see Megatron biting into one. So, she quickly took one out of her sub space, they'd need the energy for today. But as she consumed her ration, Megatron seemed to notice her nervousness and said softly.

"Are you worried about leaving this place?"

"A little," she admitted softly. "But that's not...I mean...I'm okay with going out now. I won't panic."

He cocked his head slightly.

"Then what is wrong?"

"I...," she began before biting her lip. "It's just...you said that first night...that...that no one interfaced in the mines."

Megatron raised an optic brow.

"Yes," he said softly, looking a little bemused. "What about it?"

"Well, you said that it was because you couldn't get clean," Elita explained, not sure why she was telling him this but needing an answer. "But...but here there's a berth and a shower so...I was just wondering..."

He stared at her for a long moment before shaking his head.

"There's another good reason," he said quietly. "Interfacing uses up energy, a lot of energy. We need every scrap we can get Elita, especially if we're going to fight our way out of here. So no, we won't be interfacing even though as you say, there's a berth and shower available."

"Oh," she said, half in relief, half in disappointment.

It really sucked having such conflicting emotions.

She turned back to finish her Energon ration, not noticing the slight smile on Megatron's face. He didn't say anything and simply tossed the remains to Meko who delightedly snuffled it up. Megatron snorted slightly, he wasn't sure if the Mecho Mole would survive the journey, though a part of him hoped it did since Elita liked it so much.

He was starting to get quite fond of the Femme, and wanted to bring her safely out of the mines. This had been his goal all along of course but the reasons for it had changed slightly. She wasn't just a highly valuable Autobot prisoner, she was becoming...something more. Though he still hadn't quite worked out what that was.

He relaxed back on the berth as Elita finished eating, and like him, tossed the remains to Meko. They would need to move soon, while they were still fresh. The creatures that dwelled down here didn't have normal night and day cycles. They slept when they needed it, which wasn't very often. So, perhaps if they were lucky, some would be sleeping as they passed but chances were, they wouldn't.

"Are you ready?" he said finally as he saw Elita was just sitting on the berth, smoothing down her armour.

"I...yes I am," she said, holding her chin high.

"Good," Megatron said softly before saying. "Let me see the weapons you have."

She took them out from sub space, a small blaster and a hand knife. Megatron eyed them critically, he'd probably been hoping for better weapons. But she'd lost her larger blaster when she'd fallen down the mines, so this was the best she had to offer. He eventually nodded, saying.

"They'll do, use the blaster first and only use that knife as a last resort. Don't be afraid to grab any weapons we find on the way, even if it's an abandoned piece of pipe."

"I will," Elita said firmly, feeling that heady sense of dread and energy when you prepared to go out into hostile territory.

It always left her a little shaky but thankfully, this normally disappeared once she was out there. Her trainer had told her this was good that she could get over her fear but she still needed to train herself out of being so affected before a fight. You could get attacked at any moment, which meant you couldn't waste time trying to get over your fear.

Her mother had told her it was fine to have fear as long as you didn't let it control you and that this was what her trainer was trying to tell her. If she let it affect her so much every time, it could develop into a problem. And in these times of War, she just couldn't afford to become a liability.

"Let's go," Megatron now said, gently taking her arm and leading her to the exit, Meko happily scurrying behind them.

Her breath caught as he opened it but nothing jumped out at them and there were no warning sounds to be heard. Megatron went out first, his optics darting everywhere as he examined the tunnel. But he seemed satisfied that there was nothing out there, so Elita was able to step out too.

She sadly watched as he closed up the safe house again, it had been good to feel safe secure again, even if it had only been for a short while.

She took hold of Megatron's arm, she thought it would be better if he could break away from her fast if they were attacked. Not to mention, she felt a lot better holding onto him, even if it made her look weak. He didn't object and they set off once again down a tunnel.

The first few hours were uneventful, they just walked steadily onwards. The only thing that was different was that Megatron took off his helmet, revealing a series of sensory panels. These could detect even tiny tremors in the surrounding walls and meant Megatron would know if an earthquake or rock fall was imminent.

He would also be able to sense anyone or anything approaching their position. The only downside was they couldn't talk as this could disrupt the sensory information coming in. It didn't matter too much as the long walking wasn't very conducive to conversation but Elita would have liked to have spoken to him once in a while.

But for now, she didn't want to do so until he indicated it was alright to do so.

Their first test came in the middle of the cycle, when they entered a huge cavern with a high ceiling that was shrouded in darkness. They stood on a ledge, staring at a metal walkway that bridged a deep looking pit. The walls glowed even more eerily with algae as moisture dripped down the walls.

Elita gasped softly at the sight, she'd never seen anything like it. Crystals grew in clumps, dotting the walls, the only thing of beauty in this desolate place. She wondered if they could use any of them, so her optics searched the different clusters as Megatron warily examined the new place they were in.

Suddenly, her optics fell on a patch of glittering blue and pink crystals, which if she knew anything about crystals, were a rare breed. They happened to be on the other side of the cavern, just below the metal bridge but she was sure they could reach it if Megatron was up for getting any.

As she turned to him, she saw he was replacing his helmet, apparently he would get overloaded with information in such a wide space. She knew a Mech that had something similar, so she didn't need to ask him why he was putting it back on. She lightly placed her hand on his arm, doing her best not to startle him.

He didn't jump, instead he turned to look at her questioningly. She pointed to where the crystals where, thus indicating they might be of interest to him. A thoughtful expression did cross his face but then he abruptly turned to her.

"We're not alone here, be ready."

Her optics widened in shock as she imagined they were about to be attack by Cannibals or Mutants. But he was already muttering quietly.

"I think we might have stumbled over a colony of Energy Leeches, right up there."

He jerked his head upwards as Elita whispered.

"And where you get Energy Leeches..."

"You get Rat Monsters," he finished as the sound of skittering could be heard echoing around the cavern.

"Ah," Elita gasped as she felt movement behind her but it was only Meko scurrying ahead of them, right over the bridge.

He stopped in places, snuffling around but finding no tasty snacks continued onwards. Elita could feel Megatron tense beside her, he was waiting for something to happen. But as Meko carried on, nothing happened, he made it to the other side. Megatron sighed softly as Meko started poking around for something to eat around the entrance to another tunnel.

"Maybe it'll be alright?" Elita said cautiously, hoping they could get across without a fight.

"Hmm," Megatron said, staring at the spot where Meko was.

He took a step forward and when nothing happened, took another.

"We will likely have to run for it," he said as they edged their way forward.

"But don't run until I say so, we don't want them coming down on us sooner than they have to."

She nodded as they started their way across the bridge. There was still a strange sound up above them but apart from that, everything was still. Elita stayed close to Megatron but didn't cling to him, if those creatures attacked, he'd need his arms free. But she really hoped that they weren't, she'd even forgotten about the rare crystals.

They were near the centre of the bridge when the first Energy Leech dropped down from the ceiling. Elita yelped and flinched away from it, before kicking as it squirmed in her direction, sending it flying down into the pit. But this was a signal for a whole hoard of them to come tumbling down, trying to latch onto the intruders.

Megatron snarled and swatted them away, he didn't want to start blasting yet, not in this cavern which would echo throughout the whole place. Some of them did manage to attach onto both of them but they grabbed them and flung them away before they could suck any Energon.

They were running now, trying to dodge all the falling Energy Leeches but they had more problems. Horrible screeches alerted them to a pack of Rat Monsters which were swarming down the cavern's walls, snapping and snarling at the two bots. Megatron cursed and drew his blasters and started firing precision shots right at them.

He hit several and they cried out death cries before falling down, their fellows rushing after them, to devour the dead rodents. But many more were coming and they weren't interested in the dead, they wanted the living, namely Megatron and Elita.

"Megatron!" Elita cried as several leapt at them, she had her blaster out and firing at them, her shots not as good as Megatron's but still felling many of them.

"Run for it," he yelled, now lashing out at those that had gotten too close.

She hesitated for just a moment but then run, she knew he couldn't be distracted by her. But the Rat Monsters chased after her, aiming for her legs, trying to bring her down. She cried out as one knocked into her and wildly slashed at it, feeling its hot fluid splatter her.

But it had spoiled her momentum and another slammed into her, sending her tumbling over the side. She clawed at the side, before coming to a stop because of a protruding piece of rock. The Rat Monster growled at her, slashing at her with their long, jagged claws and she fired up at them, which stopped them advancing on her.

But this wouldn't work for long, with enough numbers, they'd overwhelm them both. But as she continued to hold them off, she realised she was right by those rare crystals. And in a moment of madness, she harvested as many as she could grab and flung them into sub space.

When she looked up again, she had to duck as a Rat Monsters was sent squealing down past her, deep down into the pit. To her shock and relief, she saw Megatron leaning down, holding out a hand for her which she grabbed. With a hard yank, he pulled her up and together, they ran for it.

Megatron roared as they did so, feeling the creatures trying to follow and blasted the tunnel entrance behind them, causing a cave-in and stopping the Rat Monsters in their tracks. But they didn't stop, they kept running until finally, the fear and energy faded from their systems and they slowed to a walk.

"Well, that went better than I thought," Megatron grunted, clutching at an injury on his arm.

"Yeah," Elita gasped, still unable to believe that they had survived it.

"It did."

To be continued.

_Author's note. Elita and Megatron run into more trouble in the next chapter but there's an added complication this time? What is it? Find out next time, until then._


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's note. Sorry for the delay, been working a lot recently._

_Suggestions are welcome._

_Enjoy and please review._

Elita was standing there, still in slight shock and disbelief over what had just happened. They had just escaped a whole cavern of Rat Monsters, with barely a scratch. Well, that wasn't strictly true, Megatron did have a nasty looking gash on his arm but still. They had gotten away and for the moment, were safe once again.

"Megatron," she said softly as he examined the rock fall he'd caused. "I...are you alright?"

"Fine," he grunted, glaring at his injury as though it was mocking him.

"Let me look at it," Elita said, coming over to him and trying to take his arm.

"Its fine," he said with a grumble, yanking his arm away.

"Please, let me just clean it," Elita pleaded as she sub spaced a cloth, she didn't like seeing him hurt.

He eyed her for a long moment before shoving his arm at her with a grunt. She smiled and started wiping away the energon from his gash, gently cleaning it. She saw some shards of metal embedded and she deftly plunked them out, tossing them away. Megatron didn't react, he just watched as she did this.

"There we go," she said softly, finally finishing. "Do you want me to bind it up?"

"No, I need to close it up now," Megatron said grimly. "We can't have the smell attracting anything."

"But how...?" Elita started to ask but Megatron was already picking up a long, jagged piece of metal.

With his blaster, he set it to a lower setting and aimed it had the end of the metal shard. Elita watched open mouthed as he burned the point until it was white hot, melting into an even brighter orange. She wanted to turn away but she couldn't as she watched him place his blaster on the ground before pressing the burning white end onto his wound.

There was a hiss and smoke rose up as it was slowly dragged along the wound, melting the metal beneath. Elita felt sick, she could smell the burning and when she looked up, she saw Megatron's face contorted with pain. He was only just managing to stop himself from snarling with pain, his teeth were locked together in a terrible grimace.

Just as bile was starting to rise up her throat, Megatron pulled the hot rod away and flung it into a corner. He lifted his seared arm and blew on it, trying to cool the metal down. In an instant, Elita was there, helping him, anything to take her mind off the fact she wanted to be sick.

His optics and met her and amongst the pain in them, she also saw quiet gratitude. She gave him a soft smile and said.

"You'll think this stupid but...while I was hanging off that ledge, I...I managed to harvest some of those crystals."

His brow rose in shock at this and she wondered if he would be angry. But then he relaxed and said.

"Those are rare crystals Elita, they'll fetch a high price."

"Well, you'll be able to sell or keep them," she said softly and added as he looked briefly confused. "I'm your prisoner, which means they belong to you."

Megatron blinked before slowly nodding.

"I guess they do," he said softly before saying. "But you may keep them for now. And when we get out of this place, we'll both have a small piece to celebrate."

"That would be nice," Elita said warmly, touched by the fact he wasn't demanding the rare crystals right now.

"Come on, we better get going," Megatron now said, picking up his blaster and placing it in sub space.

"Meko," Elita called softly, the little Mecho-Mole had been doing more snuffling among the rubble.

He squeaked and came scurrying over, making Elita chuckle as she gave him a pat. She was pleased he'd escaped the Energy Leeches and Rat Monsters and had kept up with them. He felt like a good fortune mascot who would keep them safe while they travelled these tunnels.

"Good boy," she cooed softly, encouraging him to follow which he did.

She spotted Megatron rolling his eyes but he didn't say anything. She knew he thought her fondness for Meko as silly but he never mocked or teased her for it. In return, she didn't expect him to fawn over the little Mecho-Mole, she just wanted him to tolerate him. Which he thankfully was.

"Are you alright?" Elita asked softly as they walked along. "I know you had to do it but that must have hurt a lot."

"Its fine," Megatron said gruffly, flexing his arm and grimacing. "I can still use it, that's the main thing. I cannot risk attracting Mutants or Cannibals."

"Their senses are that good?" Elita questioned softly.

"They are," Megatron said softly. "Remember, they are not true bots, they may be cunning but they lack many higher functioning processers. Their energies are instead focused on all their senses, sight, hearing and smell. And of course, their taste is incredibly enhanced."

Elita shivered, these former bots drank the energon of transformers and relished in it. And it seemed that once they got a taste for a bot's energon, no other type would do them. They had to keep drinking it, all the while becoming less and less like bots and more like monsters.

"I don't know which is worse," Megatron continued. "The Mutants have had all sorts of things done to them which helps them with their senses. But the Cannibals are so obsessed with finding prey, they are relentless."

He suddenly looked her right in the optic as they continued.

"You remember that we must destroy any Mutant and Cannibals we come across, they will hunt us down otherwise."

"I...I will," Elita said with a slight tremble.

"Just remember, you will be saving lives by doing this," Megatron said softly. "If they don't get us, they will slaughter another innocent Spark who falls down here."

Elita nodded, she knew he was right. She'd never forgive herself if she allowed a Mutant or Cannibal to escape who then went on to kill a bot. It wouldn't be easy, it wasn't like killing a Rat Monster, these creatures had the faces of bots. It would be like killing an actual bot although Megatron assured her they no longer were bots.

They walked for about an hour, the path was becoming littered with debris, meaning they had to pick their way over it. Megatron's optics were fixed up ahead and he'd taken his helmet off again. Elita stayed close, her senses on high alert for anything suspicious.

But then Megatron suddenly came to an abrupt halt, his hand flying to cover her mouth. She gave a muffled squeaked but he silenced her with a look. He nodded to where the tunnel turned a sharp corner, it was obvious he had sensed something. She couldn't help but clutch at him as he held her, there was something beyond that corner.

And judging by the look on his face, it was nothing good.

He very slowly removed his hand from her mouth, she knew by now to keep absolutely silent. She guessed by the fact she couldn't hear anything, whatever it was hadn't been alerted to their presence yet. She was never more grateful for Megatron's heightened senses underground.

Megatron brought out both his blaster and his knife, pointing to the corner. His meaning was clear, they were going to go around that corner and that destroying everything in sight. She silently swallowed, here was the moment she'd been dreading.

It would be kill or be killed.

She nodded to him as she raised her own blaster, she would do what needed to be done. Megatron gave her a short nod and they started to carefully advance. She glanced behind them, Meko was hanging back, burying into the ground as though he knew what was coming.

"Primus, please protect us," she mentally whispered. "And please protect the Sparks of the once bots whose lives we are about to take."

With this prayer, she felt stronger and moved with more confidence, even as she felt sick inside. The corner came nearer and nearer, she could actually hear the sounds of movement behind that corner. There was also some strange hissing and scraping, it was obviously a group of...Mutants? Cannibals?

Well, they were about to find out.

With a war like cry, Megatron surged forward, tearing around the corner of the long tunnel and opening fire. Elita was a mere moment behind him, but choosing her shots more carefully so as not to hit Megatron.

The wide tunnel was filled to bursting with snarling, pieces of bots, there were limbs and chasses everywhere, as well as splashes of bright energon. For a moment, she thought Megatron had already torn them all apart but then the reality hit her. All the bots here were made up of a jumble of different mixed matched parts.

As one frothing Mech charged at her, screaming wildly she raised her blaster and shot him clean through the head. She realised they must be Cannibals, Megatron had told her they scavenged parts from the bots they killed. The one she had just killed still managed to run a few more stumbling steps as it died, before finally falling at her feet.

But she had no time to dwell on this fact, there were more lunging for her and she was forced to back away, still firing. To her horror, the shots that didn't kill instantly didn't slow them down, they still kept coming even as their armour shattered and energon splattered.

"Ahh," she screamed as a former Minibot clawed at her, scoring several scratches in her armour but not causing them to bleed yet.

He was close, too close. She slashed at him with her knife and he went stumbling back, shrieking with pain and rage.

"Primus forgive me," she cried as she plunged her knife into the Minibot's Spark, it's armour had been barely covering that area.

She couldn't tell who was Femme or Mech, they were such an unbelievable mixture. One she thought was a Mech, turned out to be a former Femme with massive arms, clawing and biting. One of the flailing fists caught her and sent her crashing to the ground, gasping in shock and pain.

As the Femme snarled in victory and made for her, she saw a sudden bright flash of colour which caught her attention for a brief moment. But she couldn't focus on this, she needed to shoot this mad Femme down. Her first shot hit the Femme in the tank area and she howled with pain, doubling over.

Almost crying with regret, Elita aimed better and shot her chest area which exploded in a shower of sparks. The Femme clawed at her front, falling to her front but still trying to get at her. With one last tremble, Elita shot her in the fact and she went down. Unfortunately, the Femme fell across her lower body, pinning her there.

"Megatron," she couldn't help but yell, shoving at the Femme's body while shooting at the others who were coming for her.

He was in the thick of a group, snarling and slashing at any who tried to take him down. He was shooting with his blaster and stabbing with his knife, the Cannibals were falling but more seemed to appear. Elita desperately concentrated on those coming for her but again, was slightly distracted by that flash of colour.

Most of these Cannibals had dark colour or were stained with either energon or dirt. But this flash was made up of bright colour or white, red and blue. Damn it, what was it, it was really distracting her. A thin Mech stumbled over to her, missing most of his left leg and greedily eying up hers.

"Uhh," he grunted, grabbing the dead Femme and tossing her away, trying to get at Elita's newly freed legs.

Elita shot him in the Spark, he collapsed on top of the Femme he'd thrown away. Elita sat up, looking for the strange flash she kept seeing. There were less Cannibals now but even a single Cannibal was dangerous. She started blasting any that moved now, still being careful not to aim near Megatron.

Still, some of her shots were a little wide, she was just so pumped up she had to keep firing. There were more death cries, more explosions of armour and inner circuitry and more splatters of energon. Elita felt sick to her Spark but she carried on defending herself even as Megatron finally despatched the last few Cannibals.

Now the tunnel was littered with the bodies and parts of former bots and Elita knew it would have been impossible to put them all back together. She felt great sadness for them all, they didn't deserve this cruel fate that had been bestowed upon them. Once again, she prayed to Primus that he would look after his poor forgotten children.

"Elita," Megatron said gruffly as he stumbled over, his face was a mask.

"I...I'm fine," she said, her voice cracking up. "W-what about you?"

"Fine," he bit out, his optics scanning the bodies, checking to see if any still lived.

There was one who was twitching rather a lot, so he coolly walked over and shot them in the head, before checking to see if their Spark still glowed. It apparently didn't so he moved onto others, checking them all.

Elita could feel tears running down her face, she felt worse than she had ever felt in her whole life. But just before she could break down and start sobbing, she spied the flash once again. She focused all her attention onto it, she didn't want to think about what had just happened.

She moved forward, half bent as bodies leaked fluids beneath her.

"What?" she exclaimed in surprise as a pair of red optics blinked at her, before disappearing behind a body.

She really was shocked, these Cannibals all had either white or black coloured optics, because they drank the energon of bots. But this one had a normal bot's optics and he was clearly of the Decepticon linage. She moved closely, why wasn't this one attacking?

All of the Cannibals had fought to the last, even when all of their limbs had been destroyed, still they struggled. But this one hide, and had bright flashes of colour on its armour.

She finally arrived at that body, Megatron was still among others. She peered over and was completely shocked at what she saw. A young Sparkling gazed up at her, his armour dirty and stained but nonetheless showing his colours. He looked weak and underfed, his armour was barely holding together.

But the thing that caught her attention was the little wing growths on his back, this was the child of a Seeker. The very thought was staggering, no flyer enjoyed being underground, most went mad if forced to stay for a prolonged amount of time.

"Little one?" she said softly and he hissed at her, trying to bare his teeth like the adults had.

He was no Mutant and she doubted he was a true Cannibal but she could only conclude he'd been living with them for a while. Why had they not taken him apart and drank his energon? Had they been planning to, as an emergency store? Perhaps deep within them all, there was still a shred of goodness that compelled them to adopt the youngster rather than eat him.

"I won't hurt you," she said softly, reaching for him but he back away, still hissing at her.

"Elita?" came Megatron's voice, he was obviously wondering what is going on. "Is there a live one?"

"Yes," she said and she heard Megatron hurrying over, so she quickly stood so he couldn't do anything.

"But it's not a Cannibal," she said breathlessly and as he stared at her, said. "It's a Sparkling, a Seeker Sparkling."

"Sparkling?" he said in disbelief before looking around her and gaping at the hissing Seekerling.

"Primus," he said, his voice revealing just how shocked he was.

"I know," she said softly. "Oh Megatron, he must have gotten lost, I don't know why but those Cannibals didn't kill him. Please, we must take him with us, we can't leave him."

He stared at her for a moment, before striding forward and grabbing the hissing Sparkling but it's scruff bar. The Sparkling snarled, struggling and trying to swipe at Megatron but the grey Mech ignored this. Megatron seemed to be looking for something, she saw his optics focus on something on the Sparkling's neck and he grunted.

"Starscream. His name is Starscream."

To be continued.

_Author's note. So, what do you all think of this twist? I hope you all like it, next time, how do Megatron and Elita cope with a little Sparking? Find out next time, until then._


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's note. Not so long a wait this time, hope you all like._

_Suggestions are welcome._

_Enjoy and please review._

"Starscream," Elita repeated in wonder as the Sparkling continue struggling and snapping.

"Seekers always put their creations glyphs on the back of their neck," Megatron explained. "That why you always seen them flying around each other, their reading their name glyphs."

"Oh," she said, that did explain a few things. She always wondered about the strange greeting displays the Seekers had but she didn't know any personally so hadn't been able to ask.

"He can't have been down here long," Megatron now said, examining the Sparkling carefully. "He doesn't have the madness yet, I'd say only a few cycles at most."

"How on Primus's name did an innocent Sparkling end up down here," Elita asked, her optics full of empathy for the poor Seeker child.

"Who knows, if we find his Creators, maybe we'll find out," Megatron said softly as the Sparkling stopped struggling and just started hissing threateningly.

"Stop that," Megatron suddenly barked at the Sparkling who jumped but continued hissing at an even louder tone.

"Damn Cannibals," Megatron now growled, giving Starscream a small shake as he started searching the room.

"Don't hurt him," Elita said in reflex, the poor thing had surely suffered enough.

"He can't behave like this, Elita," Megatron replied firmly. "If we're going to take him, he has to learn to obey and keep silent."

Elita bit her lip as Megatron made his way over to Cannibal body which had a long length of covered wire trailing from it. He grabbed it and yanked it off before marching back over to Elita, thrusting the wire at her.

"Tie this around his waist, we can't have him running all over the place," he ordered, still holding tightly onto Starscream.

Elita was a bit hesitant but didn't want to be difficult so she stepped forward. Starscream squealed, hissed and started struggling again, snapping his little denta together. Elita didn't want him to be like this, she wanted him to trust them. So she very carefully reached out a hand, keeping it out of reach of his snapping jaws and clawing hands to pat his head.

"It's alright little one, we're not going to hurt you," Elita cooed softly, not making any sudden moves in case he was frightened.

Starscream just growled suspiciously at her. But Elita carried on regardless, knowing it would take time before he trusted them. She now said softly.

"I know you're scared but we're going to take care of you now, we'll get out of this place and find your Creators."

She kept stroking his little head and his growls subsided a little but he still had a wild look in his optics. So very slowly, she lifted her hand away and tied the end of the wire around Starscream's middle so that he wouldn't be able to run away.

Megatron grunted when she had done so and lowered the Sparkling to the ground. The Sparkling shot them a angry look before trying to scurry away but was yanked by the makeshift leash. He snarled, twisting around and tugging at it, trying to break it but was unable to.

"Let's go," Megatron said quietly to Elita, bringing her attention back to him. "Their all dead, there's no point remaining here any longer."

She nodded, before taking his arm as they started to walk away, Megatron giving the leash a sharp tug. As much as she wanted to hold the little Sparkling, he wasn't likely to cooperate. He was making a lot of sounds of protest, although was thankfully following them. Something told her he didn't want to be left alone, not in a tunnel filled with the remains of the Cannibals.

They had only been walking for a short while when Elita remembered Meko and quickly looked around for him. To both her surprise and delight, he was there, running after them, little whiskers twitching merrily. He didn't seem to care when Starscream hissed at him but scurried past until he was ahead of the trio.

"Primus," Megatron muttered. "How many more strays am I going to pick up?"

"Am I a stray?" Elita teased, trying to keep her mind of the here and now, rather than back at that death filled tunnel.

"Hmm," Megatron said with a light smile. "Perhaps but a very pretty one."

She laughed, for such a powerful killing machine, he could be quite sweet. She knew she'd be reliving that awful scene in her dreams when they settled down to sleep but for the moment, forced it aside. She just couldn't bear to deal with what had happened, all those lives wasted. It didn't matter they were beyond help, she still felt bad about killing them.

"How far do we need to go?" she asked softly as Megatron turned to look at her. "I think we could do with a short break and consume some Energon."

Megatron grunted, he appeared to be thinking it over. Finally, he said.

"Give it a few more joors Elita and then we'll stop. It would probably be a good idea to feed that little monster anyway."

"He's not a little monster," Elita said sternly, she wanted Starscream to be treated like a normal Sparkling.

"Hmm," Megatron said, glaring at the Sparkling who'd tried to sneak up and attack the back of his legs.

The Sparkling back off with a glare, giving the grey Mech the feeling they weren't going to get on well. He didn't know why, there was just something in the Sparking's red optics almost like a challenge. And Megatron was never one to back down from a challenge, even if it came from a Sparkling.

They carried on for a bit more until Megatron finally decided they could rest. Elita sunk to the ground gratefully as Megatron handed her the leash end so that he could make sure they were safe. Starscream also collapsed, he was exhausted. But he'd been forced to follow, partly because of the leash but mostly because as a Sparkling, his programming demanded that he remain with adults.

"Starscream," Elita said softly to the Sparkling, who briefly glanced at her before going back to trying to break the leash.

She sighed and brought forth a small Energon ration from sub space and offered it to him. The smell of Energon caught his attention and he looked up, his optics focusing intently on the ration. They then darted to Elita before focusing again on the goody. He started to inch forward, even as Elita held it out for him.

"It's okay, you can take it," she said encouragingly as he came closer.

He eyed her, obviously suspecting some sort of a trick before suddenly darting forward and snatching it out of her hand. He scooted back several paces, glaring in a way that just dared her to try and take it from him. She just smiled, she wanted him to know that he'd done the right thing taking it.

She watched as he sank his teeth into it, quickly sucking up all the life giving Energon inside. He then crunched up the remains before spitting them out, licking his fingers and lips. Elita chuckled, leaning over to grab the scraps and toss them over to Meko who delightedly set upon them.

She glanced over at Megatron to see him sipping some Energon, he really looked worn out. But she knew he wasn't going to stop for long, soon they'd be on the move again. She wondered if they could find another safe house, she wanted to experience the previous night's feeling of security.

A safe house would provide little Starscream with a nice place to sleep, instead of the hard rocky ground. Would he willingly sleep with them or would they have to leash him up a few feet away? Elita didn't want that to happen, he needed to be taught how to be a proper Sparkling again, not a Cannibal mascot.

As she started to consume her own Energon ration, she saw that Starscream was watching her. She couldn't discern what he was thinking, he had a strange look in his optics. He started to edge towards her, making strange whimpering sounds. She cocked her head, frowning, was he ill?

"Starscream, what is it sweet spark?" she asked softly as he moved closely, keeping crouched down as he did so.

He made a small hesitant chirp in her direction, his little wing nubs almost quivering. In return, she gave him a small smile, hoping he was trying to be friendly. It was hard to tell, Cyber rats could act odd before trying to attack on the surface.

Starscream gave another hopefully sounding chirp as she held out a hand to him, hoping it wasn't about to be bitten. He still had that strange, crouching gait as he suddenly rushed over and threw himself into her lap. She started but he merely curled up, chirping plaintively.

"That's strange," she said to herself as she hesitantly started stroking him. "He was so hostile before."

"It's because you've fed him," Megatron suddenly spoke up. "His Sparkling protocol is recognising you as a care giver, he'll probably behave better for you from now on."

"Oh," she said softly in wonder as Starscream clung to her armour tightly. She never thought any Sparkling but her own would do something like that with her.

But it did give her a warm glow in her Spark, as she gently stroked the young Sparkling who didn't want to let go of her. His face was hidden, buried against her armour as his tanks processed the delicious Energon he'd just consumed.

After a while, Elita remembered she hadn't finished her Energon ration and started drinking it again. Starscream shifted in her lap and looked up, watching her eat. His optics grew wide and sad, and he made a soft whimpering noise. As she looked down at him, he sat up in her lap, resting his face against her chassis and giving a hopeful whimper.

"What is it, sweetness?" she asked softly as he reached up a hand to paw at her chest.

"Uh...uh...chirp," Starscream moaned as he started to run his lips over her chest, and she gasped as she felt him try to suck.

"Megatron," she gasped, he turned, his optics widening at the sight.

"He wants to be fed," he said gently, as Starscream continued scrabbling at her. "He's trying to get at your fuel line, he's obviously still used to feeding that way."

"Oh," she gasped softly. Many did fed their young that way but Seekers were especially famous for it. It broke her Spark to think that his Creators weren't here to do the same for him.

"I'm sorry, I can't feed you," she told Starscream sorrowfully as he tearfully tried to fine a tube to suck on. "My protocols aren't activated yet, I'm sorry little one."

"Actually," Megatron said very slowly. "There is a way. I've heard that a Femme's systems can be activated for a surrogate creation."

"How?" Elita asked as she tried to soothe the distressed Sparkling.

"You need to open your chest plates and try to find where your fuel line is, then pull it out. Hopefully, when Starscream takes it, it will activate and you can feed him," he explained matter-of-factly as she blushed.

"I...," she began but Starscream started to wail as he didn't get the Energon and comfort that he wanted.

"I'll try it," Elita said, her voice a bit more firm as she started to unlocked her chest plates.

Megatron looked away but she could see he was still eying her out of the corner of his optic. She mentally rolled hers, Mechs were all the same. But now wasn't the time to be embarrassed, Starscream was becoming more and more distressed.

"Let's try this," she said soothingly, her fingers searching her chest until she found what she was looking for.

Her face heated up even more as she tugged the fuel line out, feeling Megatron's sneaky gaze on her. But she didn't have time to focus on this as Starscream started grabbing for her inactivated fuel line, pulling on it before stuffing the end in his mouth.

Elita had no idea how to make it clear to her systems that she was Starscream's carer, so she just focused on holding him close and letting her natural affection for him grow. But to her surprised, Starscream suddenly gave a delighted squeal and started sucking harder and as she winced, she felt protocols activate and fuel start to flow from the line.

Starscream purred as the lovely processed fuel flowed into his mouth and he started suckling with gusto. As Elita watched in awe, she felt a pat on her arm and looked at Meatron who was smiling gently.

"You must be a natural care giver, that doesn't work for everyone," he said softly, his words causing her Spark to glow with happiness.

"I'm glad I could help him," she said softly as the Sparkling settled down for a good feed. "I don't suppose he got anything like this when he was with...those Cannibals."

"It's not likely," Megatron said gravely as he too watched the Sparkling.

"But they did at least reframe from hurting him, which is something," he added and she nodded, sending a note of thanks to Primus.

"It is indeed," she smiled as Starscream purred louder than ever.

A few joors later, they were walking again, only this time Starscream was clinging onto Elita's back. Apparently, he had decided that she was a safe being that he could trust, which meant she could now carry him without fear of being bitten. However, the same bond could not be said of Megatron and Starscream.

Whenever the grey Mech was too close, Starscream would hiss and bare his fangs in a defensive manner. It was clear he didn't like the older Mech and had no interest in forming any sort of relationship with him. Elita sadly noted that Megatron didn't seem to want to have much to do with the Sparkling either and knew this was going to cause problems.

"Be nice, Starscream," she abolished as he once again snapped at Megatron who growled in response.

"Adorable," Megatron said grumpily as the Sparkling ducked down before peering over with evil red optics, at least in his view.

"He just needs to get used to you," Elita soothed, feeling Starscream snuggle into her shoulder. "You'll see, by the end of this journey, I'm sure you'll both be very fond of each other."

Megatron glanced at the little monster, as he had dubbed him, as he bared his fangs at the grey Mech. He snorted before saying sarcastically.

"Yes, I'm sure we will."

"Megatron," she sighed as Starscream nuzzled her some more. "Be nice, he's just a Sparkling."

"I'm aware of that," he said through gritted teeth as they came to another junction.

They stopped and examined the two options. Megatron's optics darted between them, he was trying to decide which one they'd go down. But suddenly, Starscream darted forward, Elita had allowed him down on his feet so he could get a little excise while they decided which way to go. He tried to go down the right tunnel but Megatron grabbed his scruff bar and held him back.

Starscream snarled and cursed in Sparkling speak, trying to fight back against Megatron but unable with the way he was being held. Megatron narrowed his optics at the youngster before giving him a shake.

"Where do you think you're going?" he demanded, shaking Starscream again.

"Megatron," Elita cried, holding her hands out for Starscream but Megatron kept him out of her reach.

"I'm not having him behave like a brat," Megatron snapped as Starscream reached for the right tunnel, grasping with little hands.

Elita watched this action curiously before saying.

"Megatron, I think Starscream senses something down that tunnel."

Megatron glanced down it before growling.

"Fine, we'll go down that one but if it turns out to be a wild cyber rat chase..."

He gave Starscream a dark look which promised punishment before dumping the Sparkling onto the ground. Starscream rubbed his little aft, all the while glaring up at Megatron who scowled at him. But after a nudge from Megatron's foot, Starscream scrambled to his feet before scurrying forward.

He snapped at Meko who had darted past and headed down the same tunnel he was heading for. This made Elita think she was right, there was something down here which inspired the youngster forward. So after taking Megatron's arm to calm him down a little, they followed.

They soon realised just what had got Starscream's attention, the air was a lot cooler. In this crowded, humid environment, the Seeker child sought out the cooler temperature in the hope they would lead to open air.

"Oh," Elita gasped, as they emerged into a vast cavern and to her delight, they could actually feel a slight breeze.

The source quickly became clear, as they looked up and saw high above them, a speck of light. They had finally found a way out of this horrible place, they could almost taste freedom. Elita's face lit up and she hugged Megatron's arm in delight as even he looked pleased.

Starscream was running around, jumping up and down, trying to access the sky but his wings were too small for him to fly. Elita rushed forward and scooped him up, crying out.

"Oh Starscream, my darling, you found the way out, you clever Sparkling."

Starscream shrieked with delight as he was tossed into the air before Elita hugged him. As she turned back to Megatron, she saw he looked a little pensive. She gave him a questioning look, he sighed and said.

"We're not out of here yet, Elita."

He looked up where the speck of light glowed brightly. He then looked back at her and said gravely.

"We still have to find a way to climb up there and it won't be easy, especially with a Sparkling in tow."

"Oh," she said, slightly disappointed, but still hopeful.

"But we're still closer than we have been the whole time we've been down here," she said softly, stroking Starscream's head.

"That we are," Megatron nodded. "But I suggest we recharge for now, I don't know if we'll be able to rest once we start climbing."

Elita nodded as she and Megatron headed for a sheltered corner. Megatron sat down first and opened his arms for her and she gratefully leaned back against him. But as he tried to wrap his arms around her, Starscream growled and tried to bite Megatron's hand.

With a snarl, Megatron grabbed hold of the angry Sparkling and spinning him around, landing several hard smacks to his little aft before letting him go. Starscream burst into noisy tears, flinging his arms around Elita who cuddled him to her.

"Megatron," she scolded and he could have sworn Starscream shot him a smirk as he continued to wail.

"Fine," Megatron growled, promising he'd get even with the young Sparking, as he lowered his arms so they just supported Elita.

She sighed as she rocked the unhappy Sparkling, just what was she going to do with the two of them?

To be continued.

_Author's note. Hope you all enjoyed that, in the next chapter, they head for the surface but it won't be easy. Find out what happens next time, until then._


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's note. Sorry for the delay, been busy with University work._

_Suggestions are welcome._

_Enjoy and please review._

Megatron woke up slowly, feeling a glorious warm someone snuggled in his arms. He smiled, not bothering to online his optics and gave whoever was snuggled close nuzzle. He heard a female murmur as they moved in their sleep, pleasing him even more. His arms were a bit slack, so he raised them, wrapping them more tightly around his recharge partner.

Only to hear a growl and feel a sharp pain shooting through one of his fingers. He grunted in surprise, jerking his hands back as his optics shot open, what the frag? What the slag was biting him, treating his fingers like they were a tasty Energon snack.

As his optics found themselves looking at pink, he knew just who was snuggled in his arms, Elita. And that meant...

"Little monster," he growled as his optics met Starscream's, the little Seeker smirking up at him as he gnashed his surprisingly sharp teeth together.

Megatron examined his finger, it was dented but not bleeding. Primus, if that brat had really drawn blood, he would be in a whole world of pain right about now. Which then begged the question, why wasn't he giving that Sparkling precisely what it deserved?

"Come to daddy," Megatron muttered after making sure Elita was still in recharged, reaching around her and trying to grab hold of that little demon.

But the Sparkling dodged his claws, baring little fangs, optics positively gleaming with malice. Megatron in turn bared his fangs, as he stretched, still trying to grab the brat that was fast becoming a thorn in his side. He would show him just who was boss around here, once he managed to catch him that is.

But this Sparkling was wily, twisting to first one side and then another as Megatron struggled to catch him and avoid waking Elita. He knew that once she was awake, she would protest any punishment and end up being annoyed with him. That was something he didn't want, he was enjoying the way they were getting on.

Despite her dubious taste in _liking_ that demon with wing, everything else was very appealing. She didn't fight him when he first took her prisoner, she accepted and made the best of it, in other words, she didn't constantly cry or whine. He hated listening to Femmes do that, it really drove him up the wall.

But it wasn't just the fact she didn't complain, when he saved her from that rock fall, she seemed genuinely grateful. Meaning she could forget he was a lowly Decepticon and appreciate that he was a Mech who'd saved her. She didn't seem to mind sleeping with him anymore, in fact, she appeared to enjoy it quite a bit.

He mentally chuckled as he swiped again at Starscream, he knew that sneaky a peak at her bare Chassis wasn't very gentlemanly thing to do but he was only a Mech. It wasn't like he openly looked or tried to touch, he just enjoyed a brief look. Any other Mech would have likely done the same thing, unless they had no ball bearings.

Her bare chest aside, Elita had actually looked quite nice feeding that little monster, like a natural mother. For a brief instant, he imagined Elita holding a little grey Sparkling with bright red highlights with maybe blue optics. Sadly, a flash of that demon's malevolent smirk banished this image to the back of his mind and he once again focused on catching him.

"Won't be able to sit down when I'm through," he growled, succeeding in grabbing a foot only for Starscream to let out a wail.

Megatron froze but before he could do anything, Elita stirred, waking up in another moment. She blinked her optics, wondering what the loud noise was, before looking down and seeing Starscream wailing miserably.

"Oh Starscream," she immediately cooed, scooping him up and resting him against her shoulder. "What's wrong sweet spark, did you have a nightmare?"

Megatron shook with fury as the Sparkling shot him a triumphant look while still crying. Elita rocked him back and forth, not noticing that Megatron was awake, all the while speaking in a gentle, soothing tone.

"There, there, it's alright, you're safe now, no one's going to hurt you."

"_I wouldn't bet on it,"_ Megatron thought to himself, he planned to thoroughly hurt the little brat when he got the chance.

Elita felt him shift and half turned to smile at him.

"Hello," she said softly, still rubbing Starscream's back.

He offered her a smile, and ignoring Starscream, placing his hands on her waist. He'd show that brat of a Sparkling who garnered most of Elita's attention.

"Have a good recharge?" he asked, rubbing her sides lightly.

"I did," she admitted with a smile. "It...it was nice sleeping with you and Starscream, my two Mechs protecting me."

Megatron almost grimaced at the mention of Starscream but decided to ignore it. Instead he smiled and said softly.

"I enjoyed being able to protect a beautiful Femme like you."

Elita blushed, giving him a smile. Starscream, who'd stopped crying, decided she was giving Megatron too much attention so that to grumble and wiggle.

"I think someone's hungry," Elita laughed, placing Starscream back on her lap, gently stroking his head as she started to undo her chest armour.

Megatron fought to keep a smirk off his face, despite the less than good start to this cycle, it was suddenly looking good. Of course, he could only watch from over Elita's shoulder but it still afforded a good view. Plus, that little monster wouldn't be able to do anything, not when he was feeding. So Megatron would get a lovely view and some peace, perfect.

"Here we go," Elita cooed, locating her fuel line and pulling it out so Starscream could feed.

He instantly reared up and grabbed the fuel line to stuff it into his mouth. Elita winced slightly, she wasn't used to feeding Sparklings but as soon as Starscream started sucking, her systems instantly started allowing processed Energon to flow through the line. Starscream purred with happiness, relaxing completely in Elita's gentle grasp, contentedly sucking away.

"You'd better have some Energon or he'll drink you dry," Megatron said wryly, he didn't want Elita fainting from hunger.

Elita nodded and produced an Energon ration which she bit into straight away. Megatron watched her for a short while before bringing out his own cube. He was glad they'd found an exit to the surface even if it would likely take them at least a cycle to get out. They both had enough rations for now but with a Sparkling now in tow, they would soon start to run out.

"I think it would be a good idea to secure the brat to your back," Megatron now said, once his tanks felt less hollow. "You'll need both your hands for climbing."

She shot him a slightly reproachful look for calling Starscream a brat but she also nodded in agreement about his suggestion. She stroked Starscream's head, sighing as she said.

"What are the chances his Creators are still online?"

"I don't," Megatron said honestly. "It could be he wondered away and fell down during that earthquake, they could easily be on line."

"Will we be able to find them?" she now asked and he replied.

"We should be able to find out about them, we have his name, we just have to get in contact with some Seekers, they'd soon ascertain who is family is. Then, we can find out whether they function or not."

She nodded, looking anxiously at Starscream and Megatorn knew she was praying they'd find the Creators and that they'd be online. He knew he needed to comfort her, so he said.

"Elita, even if they are not, Starscream will be taken care of. Seekers are protective of the young, he'll be fine."

She now smiled up at him and leaning forward, pressed a light kiss against Megatron's lips before turning back to Starscream. Seeing the little monster's jealous look only made that kiss that much sweeter.

Elita's POV

After they had eaten, they'd prepared the journey up towards the very distant opening. Starscream was excited to be travelling, especially in that direction so gave little trouble as he was secured to Elita's back. As megatron had helped her, she'd noticed one of his fingers was a bit dented, yet it hadn't been the night before.

When she'd asked him about it, he'd only mumbled and changed the subject. She'd been confused about it but since it was only a dent, it wasn't worthy making a fuss over it. Once Starscream was safely secured to her back, they made a start. It wasn't easy, it was like climbing a vertical staircase, once that often crumbled under foot.

Megatron got Elita to go first, if she fell, he could catch her. Not to mention, it was better for her to land on him than the other way around, both she and Starscream would be crushed. She liked how Megatron was practical but explained things in a way that seemed quite sensitive.

Some bots she knew were so clinical about explaining things, you didn't feel they were doing it for you, only because it was the most logical way of doing things. But sometimes, you couldn't do the logical thing, you needed to think outside the box.

"Megatron," she gasped out as she found going any further very difficult.

"The rock's really crumbly, I think I'll bring it down if I try to climb higher."

Megatron made a noise of annoyance but it wasn't directed at her.

"Try moving to the right," he suggested. "It looks better over there."

"Alright," she said, her nerves were a little frazzled, they were quite high up now. Here and there, ledges jutted out from the almost sheer wall and Megatron had promised they could rest when they came to the first one. But it was still quite a climb to get there and Elita was starting to wonder whether they'd ever get there.

"Ah," she cried as she grabbed a piece of rock but it was loose so her actions sent it tumbling down and she nearly slipped.

She heard Megatron cursing but it didn't sound like he'd been hit. Starscream was now chirping anxiously, although he was enjoying going higher, he didn't like the rocks falling. Elita quickly soothed him with some gentle words and he settled down against her back and relaxed into his favourite activity that didn't involve feeding.

And that was annoying Megatron.

Elita had caught Megatron glaring up at Starscream a few times but she wasn't sure why. What she didn't know was, Starscream kept pulling faces and sneering down at the older Mech, knowing he couldn't do anything. He also had the naughty habit of grabbing bits of rock or rumble and dropping them down so that they bounced off Megatron's head and shoulders.

It didn't really hurt Megatron but it was as annoying as hell and he sworn that little monster would pay.

But for now, he just had to put up with Starscream's bratiness though this was getting harder and harder to do. It didn't make it better than Elita was so absorbed with climbing that she wasn't seeing what Starscream was doing, though it would have been hard for her to gauge Starscream's expression when he twisted away from her.

Half a joor later and they finally reached a ledge and were able to have a break. Megatron glowered as Elita talked to Starscream, making sure he was alright.

"Look how far we've come, sweet spark, it won't be long till we're out of here," she said happily to the Sparkling who giggled as he snuggled against her shoulder.

Megatron grumbled but didn't say anything, there was no point. Elita now stared up at the seemingly never ending cavern wall, wondering how long it would take them to climb out. At least there seemed to be a much bigger ledge further up, they'd be able to have a proper rest then.

"Megatron," she said softly as she watched him shoo Meko away, the little Mecho-Mole didn't have as much trouble climbing as they did, and in fact he seemed to enjoy it.

"Hmm?" he said, turning to look at her.

"What do you think we'll find when we get to the surface?"

Megatron considered his question before answering.

"I've no idea, although chances are, it'll be Decepticon territory."

As Elita nodded, Megatron said gently.

"You know I'll protect you Elita, you might be my prisoner but I won't' let anyone harm you. Not even my Sire."

This made Elita give him a smile, she'd been worrying about what would happen when they ended up with the main Decepticon force. She was an Autobot Femme and therefore, would be a target. Especially with Galvatron's reputation towards Femmes, she did not relish being in his company.

But if Megatron said he'd protect her, then she was sure he would. He wasn't the kind of Mech to bother with subterfuge, if he wanted to have her, he'd have done it and wouldn't bother with tricks. It was unlikely he'd just let her go but she somehow didn't think she'd mind spending more time with him.

Eventually, they had to start climbing again and very soon, their joints and cables began to ache. This wasn't like walking through the long mine corridors, they were using all whole body for this. Not to mention the fact they had to constantly hang onto the rock to prevent themselves falling, something you didn't have to worry about when walking.

Sometimes, Elita felt like she couldn't go any further and Megatron had to encourage her not to give up, to keep going. There were a couple of occasions where they had to climb back down a few feet before moving some distance to one side before being able to climb up again.

At long, long last, they arrived at their first milestone, a massive ledge that fell back into the rock face, gouging out a dark looking cave. Elita immediately collapsed, before untying Starscream from her back so he could stretch his legs. Megatron just sat down, his red optics staring into the gloom as though he saw something Elita didn't.

"Everything alright?" Elita asked as Starscream came running into her arms, chirping happily.

"I'm not sure," Megatron said slowly, it was like he could sense something beyond her senses.

He glanced at her before saying.

"I'd better check it out, keep a hold of that brat."

"Megatron," she groaned as he stood up and walked into the gloom.

Elita let out a sigh, hoping her body would stop aching soon but knowing that even if it did, it would all come back once they started climbing again. To distract herself, she looked up toward that distant speck of light, although it was slightly bigger than before. She could wait to be above ground again, away from all the monster that dwelt down here.

But just as she was stroking Starscream's little wings, he suddenly hissed and growled in the direction Megatron had disappeared. Frowning, Elita looked up only to gasp out as she suddenly beheld several glowing red orbs in the darkness. No, not orbs, they were optics and they were coming closer.

"Well, what is it we have here?" a raspy voice growled out and a moment later, a massive dark purple coloured Mech stepped out of the shadows, a large orange tinted cannon strapped to his right arm.

"Galvatron," she said in a whisper as more Mechs emerged, including Megatron.

"So Megatron," Galvatron rasped, turning to his son with a rather grim smile. "I thought I'd lost you to the mines, yet here you are with a pretty Autobot Femme in tow and..."

His gaze fell on Starscream who hissed and bared his teeth threateningly.

"...that," he finished silkily as his men sneered.

"It's a Seeker child we found," Megatron said softly as he stood to one side of his father.

Galvatron didn't look the slightest bit interested, instead he gestured for Elita to stand up. She did so, holding Starscream tightly in her arms, he was still growling at the group of Mechs. She held her gaze steady with Galvatron even though inside she was afraid. There were so many of them and none of them looked pleasant.

"I found here," Megatron now said with a growl as Galvatron stepped closer to the pink Femme.

"She's a Decepticon prisoner," Galvatron shot back before adding with a smirk. "Or can you not bear to give up your little berth warmer."

Elita's frame shook with anger and embarrassment as she stood there while the Mechs laughed. Megatron gave his father a hard look and said quietly.

"Not all of us are lecherous pieces of scrap."

"Watch your gloassia, boy," Galvatron said warningly.

"How'd a Seeker brat end up down...youch! a solider yelped, he'd been leaned forward, ready to poke Starscream when the Seeker reacted.

"Little brat," the Mech snarled, holding his bitten hand to his chest.

"You need discipline, Megatron," Galvatron said sternly, reaching forward and grabbing Starscream.

"Let him go," Elita cried but another Mech grabbed her and pulled her away, as Galvatron held the hissing and spitting Sparkling high.

"Otherwise, you will never have control," Galvatron continued, using his other hand to hit Starscream hard.

The Sparkling burst into wails, causing Elita to struggle harder as her poor Sparkling was hit again. Megatron growled but another Con stepped forward and nudged him with a blaster, warning him not to do anything.

"Leave him alone," Elita demanded hotly, before biting down hard on the Mech with an arm around her throat.

He cursed and smacked her but she was already elbowing him hard, making him let go of her with another curse. But as she tried to grab Starscream, Galvatron tossed him away, allowing the Sparkling to land heavily, still wailing.

"What's the matter, my dear?" Galvatron asked, grabbing Elita before she could help Starscream and pulled her flush against his body.

"Let go of me," she hissed, shoving at him but he was too strong.

"Hmm, you know, you look an awfully like Prime's daughter," Galvatron now said with a leer, his free hand snaking down to her hip.

"Nuh...no," she gasped out as he started moving his hand between her leg.

"You'll fetch a pretty price," Galvatron now murmured. "Although perhaps I'll have to ask for less after I've...used you to satisfaction."

She froze, she knew this Mech meant every word and what's worse, he'd taken a dislike to Starscream. The poor Sparkling would likely end up as his punching bag and there would be nothing she could do to stop this.

But...

"Ahhh," the solider standing next to Megatron cried out, clutching at wound caused by the grey Mech's knife.

"What...?" Galvatron started to say but was interrupted by a heavy punch to his face plates.

"Argh," he cursed, barely holding onto Elita but a moment later she was ripped away from Galvatron and found herself in another Mech's arms.

"Get the brat," Megatron snarled, now using his blaster to start forcing his father's soldiers back.

He shoved her forward, she stumbled but then rushed over to where Starscream still wept. She scooped him up as Megatron came rushing back to her, grabbing her and tossing her over his shoulder. She had no idea what he was planning to do, all she could see was the soldiers and Galvatron struggling to their feet, snarling in fury.

But then she heard a strange noise from Galvatron and heard a sudden thud. But before she or the other Decepticons could react, there was a sudden jerk and the next moment, she and Megatron were flying upwards. Starscream squealed as they did so, though she wasn't sure if this was in fear or delight.

"What the...," she gasped as the air continued to rapidly rush past her, as the Decepticons cursed and started firing at them.

But a moment later, Megatron was scrambling over something and they disappeared from sight although she could still see the laser blasts. But as Megatron run across a short ledge to another wall, Elita suddenly realised that Megatron had somehow acquired a grabbling hook and cable, which was how they'd scaled the wall so fast.

"Megatron," she yelped out as he almost fell but then regained his footing before aiming the grappling hook again.

"Just hold him," he yelled back and she clutched Starscream tighter as they were suddenly jerked upwards once again.

She screamed, they travelled much faster and much higher this time, she barely managed to hold onto both Megatron and Starscream. But then they landed and she yelped as Megatron set off running, darting into a long tunnel before throwing Elita from his shoulder.

As she rolled on the ground, protectively hugging Starscream as Megatron started blasting away at the cave entrance. A load of rocks came crashing down, causing Starscream to cry even harder and Elita to try and comfort him.

Megatron stood there panting heavily, still clutching the grappler and his blaster. He finally turned and said gruffly.

"That should slow them down but we've got to get a move on now."

"Megatron," she gasped out, still rubbing Starscream's back urgently. "That...that was your father...you defied him..."

"He'll get over it," Megatron said with a shrug. "Not the first time I've done it, he'd rather I defied him than having a weak son."

Elita just stared, thinking about how that worked made her processor hurt even more than it did already. So she simply nodded, figuring she could ask later. Megatron held out a hand to her and as she was pulled out, she said.

"Thank you, for saving me and Starscream. He...he was going to hurt him."

Megatron only nodded, knowing she didn't want to think about what had almost happened to her. And holding her arm, as she lovingly held Starscream, they set off together.

_Author's note. Megatron and Elita run into even bigger trouble in the next chapter but what is it? Find out next time, until then._


	9. Chapter 9

_Author's note. Sorry this has taken so long to update, I've been very busy things._

_Suggestions are very welcome._

_Enjoy and please review._

Megatron glanced at Elita as she continued to try and comfort the little monster who was still crying. He had to admit that no Sparkling deserved to knocked around by his father but it was annoying that Elita was giving all her attention to Starscream. Little monster was probably milking it for all he was worth, knowing him.

"It's okay darling, it's alright," Elita cooed as she rocked Starscream back and forth.

Tears were still dripping down the Sparkling's face but he was slowly calming down as he snuggled into his adoptive mother's arms. Megatron once again wondered if Starscream's Creators were still alive and what the future for the young Seeker was. He knew that Elita probably wouldn't give him up unless she knew for certain he'd be well taken care of.

And if there weren't anyone suitable, she'd want to keep him. At least the little monster behaved for _her,_ and she did make rather a good mother... The grey Mech swallowed slightly as he again saw an image of a little grey Sparkling lying across Elita's breast plate. It was something he'd never had a daydream about it or if he did, he never had a particular Femme in mind.

He wondered if Elita had thought about this possibility or would she rather a nice Autobot mate? Frankly, he had no idea what her feelings towards him were although he was sure she didn't despise him. At most, she maybe liked him but he didn't know how far that went. And he didn't want to seem like an idiot by asking her.

"Do you think they'll follow us?" Elita suddenly asked and he looked down at her again, a little surprised by her question to him. "Your father and his friends I mean."

"I don't think so," he replied slowly. "They were down making sure no new passages had been opened up by that quake. The last thing anyone wants is some of the mine's creatures being able to swarm near the surface."

She shivered, that was a horrible thought.

"So, we don't have to worry about them?" she asked and he nodded.

"I don't believe we do, not until we get to the surface at least. But don't fret Elita, I won't allow anyone to hurt you...or that little monster."

"Megatron," she exclaimed with a laugh, which sounded only half exasperated. "He's not a little monster, if you didn't keep winding each other up, you'd like him."

"Of course, I forgot it's me who starts things," Megatron grumbled as Starscream bared his teeth.

"Megatron," Elita began patiently. "He's only a Sparkling, you shouldn't feel threatened by him."

"Threatened," Megatron repeated indignantly. "You think I feel threatened by _him?"_

"Well, I can't think of any other reason why you don't get on," she said with a small shrug. "The two of you are always glaring at each other and I wish you wouldn't, you're both equally special to me."

"Really?" Megatron said softly, a glint in his optics. "Why don't you show me how special I really am to you?"

He caught her in an embrace, ignoring Starscream's growling protests. She laughed as this happened before leaning up to kiss his cheek. But with one hand he caught her chin, and grinning widely, kissed her full on the mouth. Starscream was not happy but he couldn't prevent his adoptive mother groaning a little as the kiss went on.

"Was that special enough?" she asked teasingly when they finally broke apart.

"Hmm, possibly," he teased back. "Perhaps we could continue this later tonight?"

She flushed at this, lowering her optics but she was also still smiling. As she lifted the little monster up for kiss, she said quietly.

"We'll see."

His smile widened as he took her arm and they started walking again. The level they were on sloped upwards so for now, they didn't need to climb. The air was much cooler here which was good as they weren't wasting so much energy. Megatron knew the fight and flight would have taken quite a bit from both of them but now wasn't the time to dwell on it. They were going to travel as far as they were able, with as few rests of possible.

His Sire's words on reports of increased creature activity made him feel uneasy. Elita wouldn't defend herself as much as she now had to worry about Starscream, meaning he couldn't count on her protecting his back. In some ways, it would have made more sense to stay with his Sire but he could not allow Elita being hurt in that way.

And even though he highly disliked the Sparkling, he didn't deserve being hit by Galvatron or any others who took a dislike to him. For one thing, it wouldn't endear them to the Seekers who would not appreciate such treatment of their young. So far, the Seekers had sided with the Decepticons but they could easily change their allegiance or simply go Neutral.

The Seekers were the ones who were giving them an edge in this War but they were very protective of their own. Unless they had a good reason for getting into a fight with a Seeker, then there would be hell to pay. As for hurting a defenceless Sparkling, well, you better be ready to face the very painful consequences.

"When can we rest?" Elita now asked softly as they continued walking.

"Soon," Megatron assured her. "I just want to put some distance between us and my Sire. But we will rest and we can have some Energon as well."

"Good," she said with a smile. "I think a drink would help Starscream to calm down."

"Hmm," Megatron mumbled, getting to see Elita's bare chest would probably help to calm _him _down.

"Megatron," Elita suddenly asked, a little nervously. "Will...will Starscream be alright when we meet up with the other Decepticons. They won't hurt him like your father?"

"No," Megatron assured her gently. "Any Seeker got wind of that, they wouldn't be happy. Galvatron felt safe hitting that little monster underground where no Seeker would venture. Plus, none of those with him would ever been inclined to tell. He dislikes Younglings and Sparklings, especially when they cry."

"So his solution is to hit them?" Elita exclaimed in disgust. "He honestly thought that would quieten Starscream down?"

"It's his favourite solution to problems in general," Megatron stated with a shrug. "Don't dwell on it Elita, he won't hurt the little monster again."

She sighed, shaking her head at the nickname Megatron had given Starscream but didn't comment. Obviously, she knew she couldn't get Megatron to stop calling Starscream that name, at least just now. Whose knows, perhaps once they got to know each other a bit better, he'd feel a bit more generous towards the little monster.

He doubted they'd ever actually get on, Starscream would probably become more bratty as he grew. Hopefully, he would not be around to see that, Starscream would grow up with fellow Seekers. Not with him and Elita...where did that thought come from? Was he honestly thinking of a possible future between him and Elita?

Such thoughts were foolish, even if his Sire allowed it, what about hers? Optimus Prime would never allow his precious princess to mate with a mere Decepticon. Especially as he was from such a poor background and had a tyrant of a Sire. No, they could have a little fun together but there wasn't a hope for a future. Not unless someone all the factions on Cybertron overnight decided that they wanted nothing more than to get along.

He resisted the urge to snort, as if that was going to happen.

They carried on walking mostly in silence. The little monster even began to doze a little, resting his little cheek against Elita's breast. Yes, this was how Megatron liked the Sparkling best, silent and unconscious. That way, he couldn't interrupt when Megatron was making a move on his lovely captive. After all, what was the point of taking the Prime's daughter if he didn't enjoy himself a bit?

In fact, when they eventually did stop for a rest, Megatron decided he would take advantage of the fact Starscream was still sleeping. As Elita carefully sat down and cradled Starscream to her, Megatron snaked an arm around her and pulled her close. She looked up at him and chuckled.

"Megatron," she began but he pressed a finger to her lips.

"Shh, let's enjoy ourselves while that little monster is asleep," he whispered to him, giving the Femme a winning smile. "What do you say, my sweet?"

"You're impossible," she murmured back but since she didn't sound adverse to the idea of Megatron just grinned back.

"Maybe but you love it," he teased before leaning forward and pressing his lips to hers.

She happily returned it and when he slipped his glossia into her mouth, she moaned softly in response. This encouraged Megatron to press a little harder against her lips, one hand cupping the back of her head. The other hand sneakily found its self on her chassis and started rubbing it. She groaned, optics opening to gave him a curious look but he just smiled back at her.

"Take it off," he whispered with a purr as she flushed. "I want to touch you properly."

"You really are impossible," she whispered back but she still carefully removed her chest armour so that Megatron could admire her beautiful chest.

With a very wide grin, he moved both hands to her chest and started massaging it. Elita moaned very softly, she had obviously never been touched like that before. It made Megatron long to be the one who interfaced with her first, to really give her pleasure while satisfying his own desires.

"Megatron," Elita gasped out as he lowered his mouth to her bare chest and began licking and slightly sucking on it.

"Shh," he teased, giving her bare chest a kiss. "Don't wake that Sparkling, he'll spoil everything."

She giggled but had to admit that Starscream always demanded her full attention. Then again, so did Megatron, neither was very willing to share her. It really did feel like she had two children although she was sensible enough not to say this to Megatron. She knew she was allowing Megatron to take advantage of her but felt no desire to tell him to stop.

"Come here," Megatron ordered now, grasping her and bringing her close.

She carefully shifted Starscream so he could sleep in her lap while Megatron pressed himself close to her, capturing her mouth passionately. She wrapped her hands behind Megatron's neck, feeling herself heat up slightly. Judging by the way the grey Mech was growling under his breath, he was enjoying himself a lot.

But like all good things it had to come to an end. Starscream had been asleep for quite a while but now the little Sparkling was getting hungry and so started to wake up. At first, the two adults didn't notice, they just continued kissing and touching. Finally, Elita felt Starscream shifted and realised that he was waking up.

"Megatron...," she gasped as Megatron attacked her neck with his mouth. "Starscream...he's waking up."

Megatron only growled in response.

"Typical little monster."

"Megatron," she abolished sternly. "He'll be hungry, don't get angry with him."

Before Megatron could answer, Starscream opened his optics and hissed as he found his hated foe far too close to beloved carrier. He snapped his little teeth and attempted to bite Megatron who drew back with a scowl. Elita sighed as the two glared at each, what was she going to do with them?

"Are you hungry, darling?" she asked the Sparkling with a smile.

The Sparkling chirped in conformation and she chuckled as she took out her fuel line. It was just as well she'd already had her chassis armour off. Megatron was sitting by her side now and looking very grumpy at Starscream's interruption. Thankfully, he didn't say anything but took out a cube and started sipping from it. This reminded Elita how hungry she was but she wanted to make sure Starscream had his fill first.

"Here," Megatron suddenly said, offering her part of his cube. "I'll hold it."

"Thank you," Elita said gratefully, leaning forward to sip at the lovely cube.

"No problem," he said softly, blatantly watching her chest as Starscream fed.

She smiled to herself but didn't say anything as she drank the sweet Energon. Once she'd had her fill, Megatron took the cube back and finished it off in a few gulps. The cube was then crushed up and tossed to Meko who pounced happily on it and started devouring it.

"We'd better get going soon," Megatron said softly and Elita nodded. As much as she'd like to rest, she didn't want to linger in this dark tunnel.

Once Starscream was done feeding, she made sure he didn't have any trapped air before replacing her chest armour. Megatron made a teasing noise of disappointment before helping her to her feet so they could carry on. Starscream clung to Elita's shoulder, shooting Megatron mean looks but the Decepticon ignored him. Their trip through the tunnel was uneventful until they reached a new level of the old mine.

"What is this place?" Elita asked with a frown, this didn't seem to be just some random chamber.

"I'm not sure," Megatron said rather grimly, taking in what seemed to be cave mouths littering the walls surrounding this chamber. None were in a single line; they were all located at different levels.

They were near what seemed to be a pit in the centre of the chamber, quite a wide one. In fact, it took up almost the whole of the chamber they'd found themselves in. And Elita was getting a very bad feeling the more she looked, she felt they needed to get out of here.

"Is there any way out?" she asked urgently.

"I don't know, I would imagine there is," Megatron replied, his optics flitting here and there. "Come on, let's go."

They hurried along the edge of the pit, searching for an exit. Megatron spotted a cave entrance someway off and he hurried her even faster on. But just as they were nearing the entrance, a shot suddenly rang out and a boulder exploded just in front of them. Starscream squealed in terror and buried himself against Elita as she and Megatron spun around.

"Now, what do we have here?"

Just a level above, leaning over a rocky outcrop was a smirking Mech, a sniper rifle leaning against said outcrop. Behind him, several more rough looking Mechs were also holding various weapons which were trained on the bots below them. Elita felt Megatron stiffen beside her and growl out a single word.

"Cy-Kill."

_Author's note. Who is Cy-Kill and how does Megatron know him? What will happen to our trio now? Find out next time, until then._


End file.
